You Only Live Twice
by VallieValVal
Summary: An unforeseen event sees that Laurent has the chance to bite Bella before the wolves can get to them. After her transformation, Bella must decide what she wants in her new life.
1. Death & Destruction

**Well, welcome everybody :). Thanks for clicking on the link to this story, and I hope you'll enjoy. Keep in mind that the whole Twilight universe including characters, places and themes (etc...) belongs to that lucky woman, Ms. Meyer. The first two paragraphs of writing in this story are from New Moon, Page 242 of the Special Edition. There are also a few quotes from the books/movies scattered in there.**

**This story continues from when Laurent finds Bella in the meadow, and is just about to kill her. Of course, we all know that the wolves then show themselves. But this time round, Bella aint so lucky.**

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"_Mouthwatering," he repeated, inhaling deeply._

_I tensed for the spring, my eyes squinting as I cringed away, and the sound of Edward's furious roar echoed distantly in the back of my head. His name burst through all the walls I'd built to contain it. _Edward, Edward, Edward._ I was going to die. It shouldn't matter if I thought of him now. _Edward, I love you.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Bella's POV**

Then, I felt teeth sink into my skin.

Nothing could have prepared me for the onslaught of fire that cursed through my veins, it quickly spreading from the concentrated bite in my neck to the rest of my body. My eyes fluttered closed, my vision blackening rapidly. My sight being cut off only increased the pain, and the feeling of blood being sucked out of my body. The only thing that held me up now was the cold hand wrapped around my waist. I lost all thought, I couldn't think of anything but the fire that was surrounding my body. How could I have ever wished for this? How could I have been so ignorant of the pain it would cause me?

I heard a girls screams far away, and I was horrified that Laurent had finished with me and attacked someone else. Couldn't he have stopped with me? Even more worrying, why was I still here thinking when I should be dead?

Suddenly, snarling erupted around me and I felt a weight lift off my body, and something flat and hard hit me moments later. I writhed around, wishing I could shout at somebody to put the fire out. My whole body was burning, the fire increasing, even though I didn't feel sharp teeth piercing my neck anymore.

The ground started trembling, feeling oddly like wild horses were pounding rhythmically through the meadow. Loud, angry barks sounded around me, accompanied by growls and more snarls. Was there some kind of dog in the middle of nowhere?

The air around me vibrated, and I tried to concentrate more on the confusing things happening around me rather than the pain in me. It helped faintly with the burning. Very faintly.

The hard surface that had crashed into me steadily pounded, getting louder with every thump. I felt a weight press back into me, and I felt relieved that Laurent had come back to finish me off. _Please kill me!_ I silently begged in my head.

The hands that gripped my wrists tightly and held me down were unfamiliarly hot, almost uncomfortable, although the temperature was nothing compared to the rampant inferno in me. It took a second for me to realise that Laurent had cold, immortal skin, and that whoever was holding me down was certainly not a vampire.

My heart rate increased, and it had nothing to do with the raging fire inside me

"Bella, calm down! Please! I'm so sorry, please," a husky voice sobbed.

_Jacob?!_

What was he doing here? He was supposed to be catching a movie with his friends? No! He couldn't be here; he had to get away from Laurent! Oh no, I couldn't be responsible for his death too!

"Sam!" he shouted.

I felt another vibration in the air, and tried once again to concentrate on anything but the pain.

"What's happening?" Jacob asked, his tone low and scared.

"I don't know, he bit her, doesn't that mean..." someone trailed off, I figured it must have been this Sam guy Jacob had just shouted at. Nothing was making sense! Why was Sam here, and how did he know Laurent had bit me?

"She's turning into one of them," Jacob hissed, the hold on my wrist tightening. So did that mean that Laurent had gone? What? How...?

I was confused. How did they know what I was turning in to a vampire? Had Jacob started believing his father's ideas now? Nothing was making sense anymore. I find the meadow I had spent countless hours with Edward, only to find another vampire, who bites me, and then Jacob and this Sam guy turn up and say that they know about vampires.

I had to ask them, I decided. I tried to squint through my eyes, and saw a harsh bright, white light, and I closed my eyes quickly against it, but thankfully Jacob had apparently noticed my accomplishment.

"Bella!" He shouted, "Can you hear me? Are you all-right? Ugh, stupid question–"

He cut himself off, because during his rant I'd managed to lift my arm and hold up three trembling fingers.

"Three, what are you saying, what's three have to do with anything now? I mean, you're–"

"Days," I managed to slip out between my gritted teeth, all the while still holding in the screams that were queuing up in my mouth.

"Three days? You're not making any sense, Bel–"

"Jacob!" Sam cut him off this time, "it takes three days for the transformation to be complete, if the legends are true, that is."

I nodded my head curtly to show my agreement, then choked back a scream as it escaped. I didn't care about the stupid keeping-the-secret law anymore, since Jacob and his new friends apparently know about vampires, I might as well play along for the time being.

"Did you take care of it?" Sam shouted.

"Yeah, the leech will have turned into a pile of reeking ashes by now," a different voice said, sounding far away.

"What?" I managed to stutter out.

"The bloodsucker that bit you, we killed... no, destroyed it." Sam told me, touching my head, "is there anything we should be looking for? I've never read or heard about these transformations, really. Only the things the legends tell us are that there's screaming and pain for three days, depending on the amount of poison the leech injects into its victim."

"How?" I breathed painfully out.

"What... legends?" Sam sounded confused.

"You... destroy."

"Oh." Sam's voice caught. I painfully opened my eyes again to see what was happening around me. I could see a boy crouching near me, staring to my right, where there were three more boys looking at me. I felt the hands on my wrists tighten even more, and my eyes darted up to see Jacob leaning over me.

All I could think was _what had_ _he done to his hair?_

His beautiful hair, which used to be long, had now been cropped short, almost like a buzz cut. I noticed the rest of the boys also had the same style, and none of them had shirts on either.

Jacob noticed me looking strangely – and probably angrily – at his hair. He shrugged, "It's easier," he told me cryptically. He glanced pleadingly up at Sam who nodded once, and looked back at me again.

"We're um... well," Jacob started anxiously.

"Werewolves." Sam stated emotionlessly.

_Okay, I am officially going crazy._

Everyone looked up at Sam as he continued to speak, "we're built to kill vampires, we only turn into wolves when we need to protect the reservation by phasing, and right now, we will help you get through the transformation. Ask us any question you like."

I was frozen to the spot with the new information; I had even stopped writhing on the ground. Jacob noticed and lessoned his hold on me. It must have been a couple of seconds of pure pain-free bliss before the pain started again. Only this time, it had increased ten-fold.

I couldn't hold the screams back anymore.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"What's happening?" I heard Jacob anxiously asking. Ah, so they could hear it too. My heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. It was beating too fast for a normal, healthy human heart. It felt like a million pieces of glass had lodged inside my chest and were stinging me from every angle.

The good news from a couple of hours ago had been that the pain had slowly receded from my legs and arms, almost to the point where it was gone. The bad news, however, was that the pain had transferred into my chest, making it the worst torture I had felt yet.

I wondered if the boys crowded around me could see the movement of my heart beating furiously in my chest, it certainly felt like they should be able to.

My heart stuttered once, breaking its constant rhythm, then stuttered again twice more.

Then silence.

It felt like I'd been freed from my chains that had been holding me down for the past three days. For the first time, I felt no pain. In fact, I could only feel the slight breeze of wind on my skin, and the pressure of grass on my back.

And I could smell the most _horrible_ wet dog smell.

Then I opened my eyes.

Everything was so clear! It felt like my human life had been lived by staring at everything through a frosted window. I could see the little specks of dust floating freely in the air, every colour in the countless leaves of the canopy above me.

And I could see the heads of five worried boys standing in a loose circle around me.

I thought of getting up, but within a twentieth of a second I was already up. Startled by the sudden movement, I looked around me again.

I was still in the exact same place in the meadow that Laurent had attacked me, except this time I was surrounded by five massive, over-grown teenagers standing their guard.

"Bella," Jacob's familiar voice whispered, and I snapped my head in his direction. He looked frightened by the movement and even more frightened when he looked me in the eyes, but he still took a small step forward in my direction, holding a hand out palm up.

"How are you?" He asked apprehensively, not breathing or moving, waiting for my reaction.

"Fine," I said, my new voice startling me for a second before I got myself under control.

Jacob cocked an eyebrow at me, and even though the situation at the moment was most awkward, I had to stifle a laugh. Jacob grinned at me, but it wasn't his wide, warm grin I had grown used to. I felt my smile fall.

Everyone uncomfortably stood around for a few moments.

"Well, the wolf's out of the bag now," the boy I'd gotten to know as Jared said. Everyone laughed shortly at his attempt at breaking the ice.

"Bella..." Jacob started, in the tone of voice he'd used frequently in the past few days. He'd apologised for not getting to me in time, not being able to save me from death. Of course, I'd just lain helpless on the ground not being able to respond as he apologised numerously.

"Jacob, its fine," I stepped forward, I'd had plenty of time for thinking of what to say back to Jacob when I had my chance, but wasn't prepared for Jacob automatically retreating backwards as I approached.

I stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed at Jacob, thinking of why _he_ would be scared of _me_, and then I remembered what I now was.

I started sobbing, and expected tears to come rolling down my cheeks, but my mind flashed back to a fuzzy memory of Esme weeping at my bedside when I was in the hospital in Phoenix. So this is what it felt like to cry.

I fell back down to the ground and hugged my knees tightly around me. When I'd dreamed of becoming a vampire, I'd imagined I'd be spending it with the most amazing family I'd ever met; two loving, supportive parents, the crazy sister, the moody brother, the most gorgeous boyfriend, the hilarious brother and the tenacious sister. I'd never had any brothers or sisters, let alone a functioning family, so it had felt great surrounded by so many caring, warm and adoring people. Instead, I was stuck in the middle of Forks, surrounded by five werewolves, with nothing.

The thing I had once begged for had now been given to me. When it once could have been a blessing to finally be equal to the one I loved, it was now a curse to stay away from those who loved and cared for me. I wondered what I was going to do with myself now. My plans when I was human had consisted of the constant routine of Jacob, school, bikes, homework, food and sleep. I hadn't been able to think past a day, because there was always the slight faith that _he_ might come back. But then there was the nagging in the back of my head that was crushing the hope, because _he_ didn't love me anymore. I hadn't thought about college or jobs yet, and I'd pretty much spent my college savings on saving the bikes from their graves. Well, at least one good thing would come out of this new event. I wasn't exactly going to crack my head open when riding my bike anymore. But maybe Jake wouldn't let me on the rez anymore now, because I was their mortal enemy.

I knew I wouldn't be able to see Charlie now, heck; maybe I wouldn't be able to interact with any humans for decades. It was probably only the putrid smell coming from Jake and his friends that stopped me from sucking the life out of them.

Now that I was thinking about thirst, I could feel the burn in my throat getting stronger, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt the natural instinct to find a living creature to hunt. I could smell the faint rusted-metal and salty blood smell coming from nearby, and before I could think of what that meant, I was already racing at super vampire speed towards the beating heart. The pulse felt like shock waves around me.

I could now see what Edward meant about not hitting the trees when he was running. Although everything should have been a blur, I could see every outline, every colour, every leaf of every tree I passed. Running at this speed felt exhilarating.

I was close to the target now, and I lunged for the pulse without thinking about the consequences of my actions. My lips locked on the neck, and I felt the warm liquid flow into my mouth. I savoured every last bit, and dropped the carcass I was holding. My eyes closed in the ecstasy of the taste.

A bird squawking and fluttering away from the trees brought me back to reality, and I just thought back to what I'd done. I looked at my hands covered in blood, and my eyes widened. What had I just done? I hadn't even looked at what I was draining! Did I know this person? I snapped my head downwards at the lifeless body.

Relief flooded through me.

I was looking down at the body of a mountain lion.

Does this mean I could continue living on a vegetarian diet like the Cullen's? If I had found this much satisfaction in the blood of a carnivorous animal, would I need to feed on humans?

The most amazing smell drafted slowly through the trees that moment, beckoning me towards it. I was helpless as I ran towards it, the divine aroma only getting stronger by the second. I couldn't stop myself. I was in a trance which I could not break out of.

A hot hand gripping mine and pulling me back stopped me in my tracks, and I snapped around to see the intruder. My eyes widened at the sight of my frightened best friend.

I didn't care about the delicious smell anymore; all I cared about was trying to put a smile on Jake's face again. I turned into him and enveloped him in a tight hug. His body stiffened for a few seconds, but then he relaxed and put his arms carefully around my body.

I sobbed into his neck, "I don't care if you smell horrible Jake, please, just be my friend again, please," I begged. I truly didn't have a sense of pride anymore.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. So sorry for letting you die," he choked, tightening his arms around me.

"Wasn't your fault, Jake. I'm just a danger magnet. If trouble is in the area, it'll come and find me," I scoffed, only half serious.

"Why does it have to come to this, though? Why does my best friend have to be my mortal enemy?" He whined.

I stepped out of his embrace, but kept his warm hand in mine, ensuring he stayed with me. "It's the way the cards were dealt," I whispered.

"I'm sor–"

"Stop apologising, Jake."

"Sor–"

I shot him a look and he stopped mid-word. Then he smiled again. It wasn't his new smile, or the old one I loved, but it was a strange mixture of the two. And that made me smile, too.

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**So, what do you think? I've been playing around with the idea of Laurent actually turning Bella for a while now, so I just had to get it out on paper. Well, on keyboard, really.**

**I've decided that at the end of each chapter of this story I'm going to recommend a story I absolutely love and cannot wait for updates to arrive in my inbox for, and the first one is **_**Emancipation Proclamation **_**by **_**kharizzmatik**_**. It's about a slave girl, Bella, who falls into Edwards mafia connected world. It made me cry, swoon, laugh... and it's perfectly written. It is long though, about 700k+ of words so far, so only start reading if you have the time on your hands, because once you start you cannot stop :)**


	2. Revelations & Resolutions

**Thanks for sticking with me for the second chapter of this story – please review at the end so I can get your thoughts! If I don't know what you're thinking, then I can't incorporate any ideas, likes or dislikes, can I? So, review away, please!**

**Once again, there is some stuff in here from the Twilight Books, and I don't want anyone to think I'm stealing Ms. Meyers characters, I'm just having some fun with them, and may return them unharmed (but changed), if the story ends that way...**

**The scents in here are from Breaking Dawn. You won't know what I mean just yet, but you will when you finish reading this chapter.**

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_**Previously: **_

"_Stop apologising, Jake."_

"_Sor–"_

_I shot him a look and he stopped mid-word. Then he smiled again. It wasn't his new smile, or the old one I loved, but it was a strange mixture of the two. And that made me smile, too._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Bella's POV**

"Could you pass me the filling?"

"Just a sec... here."

Emily and I were baking enormous apple and lemon pies for the boys, because when they got home after a long run they could literally eat a horse and then some. Even though the food they ate smelled horrible to me, I didn't complain and helped Emily whenever I could.

Emily was Sam's beautiful fiancée, who, when she wasn't religiously studying for her teaching degree, amiably cared for all the boys in the wolf pack. Those duties willingly included food preparation and cleaning, and I have to admit, if I was human I would have stayed over frequently to devour Emily's fantastic food.

At first, when Jake, Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry and I got back from the meadow and the impromptu hunting trip and to La Push, I had been in constant, controlled, 24/7 supervision; it was necessary to make sure I didn't murder any unsuspecting humans. We very quickly discovered, however, that I didn't have an appetite for any human blood, or had some regained control over my thirst. That meant that I could be around humans without having almost any temptation to kill them, and made me very relieved.

The range of humans I could be exposed to though, was limited. Only those who knew the fiercly guarded secret of the giant wolves would be allowed to see me, as they knew poor Charlie and the rest of Forks had to think I had been lost in the woods forever. After some arguing – well... shouting at each other and an undeserved hit into Jake's face – I complied with their ridiculous rule. I was however granted one night to sneak into my house – former house – and get some of my prized possessions.

Only the wolf pack, the elders on the council, and the wolves' significant others were allowed to know of my current status.

My "funeral" had been held nine days after my disappearance, because the police had called the search off after so long not finding any body. Charlie, being the Chief, had done everything possible to extend the search past three days, but hadn't been able to draw it out any longer after nine. Jake and Billy had attended for Charlie's sake. They'd told me that if I wanted to come I'd have to hide in the bushes nearby, and I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone and make sure nobody saw me. I knew, however, that I wouldn't be able to stop myself from consoling Charlie and Renee. I wouldn't be able to handle seeing them again. So I stayed in Emily's house, sobbing in her arms, and getting Sam to hold me back from running away to see Charlie and Renee and tell them what really happened.

So because all of that, the past two weeks in La Push had been difficult to say the least. I had to deal with making myself invisible whenever someone who thought I was dead was about. The boys were constantly making sarcastic jokes (though they still hurt) about my being a vampire. I had two jeans, two flimsy tops, a pair of sturdy shoes, two blue hair ties, Charlie's plaid jacket, and a picture of my parents to my name. I had to hunt every second day because of my close proximity to humans. The wolves were chasing after a red-headed vampire that had recently started invading the state – I had kindly informed them it was Victoria, who was headed for revenge on the vendetta she had over me. Oh, and I was a blood-thirsty vampire, and I had nothing to live for. Even if I had suicidal thoughts, it was now near impossible to commit.

"Smells great girls!" Embry enthused, barging in between us and eagerly grabbing the first item of food he saw – a giant blueberry muffin.

I was glad that the pack was at least treating me like I was one of their friends – not their natural mortal enemy.

"Hey Bells," Jake sighed next to me, grabbing a muffin too, "ready?"

I nodded. Every time when Jake would come back from sniffing around as a giant dog, we would go to the shore and sit in our spot, the tree about halfway down First Beach.

"Freaky, Bella," Jared commented as I cleaned up the space of the kitchen counter I had been using at my new and improved vampire speed.

I rolled my eyes at him – though he wouldn't be able to see as I had my back turned to him – and with precision threw the cloth I had been using square in his arrogant face. I heard the splat and smugly turned around, dodging the return hit easily.

"It wasn't my fault I got turned into a freaky blood-sucker!" I shouted at him sarcastically, once again speaking before I thought about what I was saying.

Everybody's smile dropped and Jake looked down at his feet, shuffling some of the dust on the floor around. I closed my eyes and shook my head to try and clear the instant guilt, something I had to do a lot these days.

"I'm sorry, Bells," Jake started the sentence he had obviously been mulling over in his head, but he stopped when he saw my shut-the-hell-up expression.

"Come on, Jake," I said, taking his warm hand in my stone cold one and leading him out of the sliding doors of Emily's cosy wooden cabin. The depressed mood lifted a bit when I heard somebody – I bet the motley collection of what I owned it was Paul – wolf-whistled at us. I really hoped that Jake's _extra_ feelings for me had disappeared when I had become a vampire.

We took a short route through the gloomy forest to get to the secluded spot on First Beach, and once my bare feet touched the wet sand I reached back and lifted the hood of my jacket onto my head to stop anyone from instantly recognizing me.

We sat down quietly on the wet driftwood and stared out over the misty-grey waters of the Pacific.

Jake cleared his throat, "so, umm... we chased the lee– Victoria," he caught himself, not wanting to offend me, "to Calgary today. We don't know if she knows about the recent, er... events."

"I don't think she does, otherwise wouldn't she give up chasing me? Maybe if she knew I was a vampire she'd back off, or get anxious about us. I should just come with you guys, and then we can just finish her off together. I mean, a vampire and five werewolves working together should do quite well, right?"

"No, Bella, there is no way I'm letting you near that thing!" He shouted passionately, straitening his back and gazing down at me.

"Jake," I whined, "I can handle myself."

"You're not getting anywhere near her. Not if I can help it."

"We'll see about that."

Jake didn't respond, just frowned at the ground.

"Hunting?" Jake asked me when it started drizzling lightly.

I swallowed unnecessarily and nodded getting up and grabbing Jake's hand instinctively in the progress. I liked the closeness and contact with somebody, and since everyone thought I was dead, I wasn't talking to many people these days. It must have seemed odd to somebody else, but I was afraid of losing my grip with everything and everybody these days, I was constantly worried that the pack would finally realizing they were making a big mistake and wasting their time by helping and caring for me, and that they would banish me from the tribe's land.

We walked slowly back up the beach, and once we whacked our way through the dense wall of ferns hugging the coast line, I looked away as Jake transformed and we took off running together to the east into the conservation parks.

I followed Jake this time, watching his wolf form moving agilely over the moss and rock covered ground. It was a silent agreement that we ran together, but hunted separately. I was sure that Jake wouldn't want to see me sucking the life out of an animal, and I wouldn't be partial to seeing him repulsively chewing the meat of another one.

The wind wafted a little and as if on cue, he shot left and I heard him racing towards the smell of the deer. I ran a little faster and tried to catch the drift of something carnivorous.

Suddenly I could smell scent trails leading in every direction – which were definitely not an animal's – and all coming from one place to the right of me. I traded a dozen different comparisons in my mind, but none of them fit exactly. Cinnamon, hyacinth, pear, seawater, rising bread, pine, vanilla, leather, apple, moss, lavender, chocolate... so sweet and pleasant.

_Vampire!_ My mind shouted.

Curious, I slowly followed the trail leading to my right, the scents getting stronger and fresher by the minute. I knew I should stop, this could be dangerous. It could be Victoria, attracting me like metal to a magnet. Jake would be looking for me anyway, I reasoned.

I decided I should turn back, but I did a sharp double-take when I saw what was standing in front of me.

A big, white mansion, the side facing me a huge wall of glass.

_The Cullen's house._

The air whooshed out of me and I leaned back against a tree, staring wide eyed at the house. I refused to blink in the case that it would disappear.

Without thinking, I was walking towards the house, up the front steps.

I raised my trembling left hand, and making sure I didn't crush the wood, my fingertip made contact with the wall. I gasped.

It was real!

I looked at the front door, and slowly approached. I twisted the handle with enough force to snap the lock back, and waited. If my heart could still beat, it would've been pounding furiously away in my chest. After a few agonizing seconds, I pulled the door open quickly, like ripping a plaster off skin.

Alarms sounded, and I stood frozen in the doorway, terrified that someone would notice. I snapped out of my trance and pierced in the code I vaguely remembered Edward telling me all that time ago.

_285536!_

The alarm silenced, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I remembered where I was.

I marvelled upon the room I was in, taking in the raised platform with Edwards's prized grand piano standing proudly on one side, and a comfortable lounge setting on the other, facing a huge home entertainment system. The memories were eating away at my frozen heart, and I knew I shouldn't be doing this to myself. I should get out of this house I used to call home and go to find Jacob. I should ban all thoughts of _them_ from my spacious mind.

I closed my eyes and lusciously smelled all the scents that were vaguely wafting through the room. Careful not to touch anything, I moved across the wooden floor towards Edward's piano, and bent over to smell the delicious sweet smell radiating from the handprints on the lid.

I felt a pang of love, and then sadness, affection, tenderness, passion, then disappointment, fear, loss and loneliness. Memories of the past came crashing back to me, Edward's velvet voice echoing around my mind.

_I don't want you to come with us._ He doesn't want me.

_You're no good for me Bella. _He doesn't love me.

_It will be as if I'd never existed._ _I promise that this will be the last time you'll see me. I won't come back._ He was never coming back.

Then, Jacob's words from some time ago came back to me.

_He left you Bella! He didn't want you anymore._

I collapsed to the floor and hugged my knees, both Jacob's and Edward's voices booming through my head. I was crying, but it was tearless sobbing. Everything was so different in this new life.

I had always thought that Edward loved me than anything else in the universe. He always told me so, at every opportunity he got. He told me a thousand times he wouldn't leave me, that he loved me, that he would do anything for me, he would stay with me forever.

He had once said he would never want to take my soul, but that's exactly what he'd done.

Not only had he taken my soul, but he'd stomped on it, spit on it, then tore it into a million pieces and held it in front of me, so I could take it, only to take both himself and my battered soul away, forever.

I looked up at the clock placed above the phone in the corner of the room, and then was shocked to see I had been morose for over half an hour. I wiped my eyes in a human habit, forgetting there were no tears. I sniffed through my nose and stood up again, my eyes coming to rest on the spiral staircase.

I made my way up the stairs, taking the usual familiar route past all the rooms. Alice and Jasper's room. Rosalie and Emmett's room. Carlisle's study. Esme's designing room.

_Edwards room._

I stopped, afraid to stare at the wood-stained door, but not wanting to go any further.

The scent emanating from the space under the door was heavenly, and before I could stop myself I had turned the handle and was staring into the room that held thousands of memories of _us_. On the couch I could see Edward lying down holding me as we both read and enjoyed his extensive music collection. I could see Edward pretending to sleep with me in bed. I could see him walking to his dresser to give me one of his shirts for the night. I could see him _everywhere_.

More of Edward's words hit me as I stared around the familiar space, everything looked the same as the last time I'd seen it at my ill-fated birthday party. One thing was different though.

Hundreds of pictures of me – some with Edward or other members of the Cullen's in them too – were strewn across the floor. Many of the close-ups of my face were crinkled and showed the most deterioration. I kneeled down to inspect the photos more closely, and realized many of these were of me sleeping. I didn't know whether to be flattered or disgusted.

_Of course... I'll always love you... in a way._

Those words that wafted through my head stopped me in the tracks of picking one of the photos up.

What could that mean?

He'll always love me, in a way? What way? Like friendship, like I loved Jake? Or Alice?

My head was pounding from the happenings of today, even though it was impossible for me to get a headache.

My mind was on repeat, the words _I'll always love you_ running over and over again through my head.

I ran out of the room and down the stairs, intending to crash through the door and forget this all ever happened, but the phone in the corner of the room caught my eye.

The left side held the cordless handset, but the right side had eight spaces with yellow lights flickering beside them, as I made my way closer to them I realized they were speed dials. The spaces held no names or details, but I guess that with great memory, vampires would be able to remember which of the speed dials rung who.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, my shaking index finger going towards the phone. I felt the light plastic with the pulsating yellow light underneath my hard skin, and pressed down.

I retracted my finger quickly and opened my eyes to see the eight light flashing red and the familiar dial tone beginning to ring.

It took all of two seconds for someone to answer.

"Alice speaking."

* * *

**No pun intended for the wolf-whistling thing :)**

**What do you think the code stands for? I know that one of you's (*cough* Jess *cough*) reading this will definitely know, since I borrowed it from you.**

**And why do you think I chose for Bella to ring the eighth light? I'll give you two clues; it's got something to do with China and numbers. Did I just give it away?**

**This time I am recommending **_**The Unforeseen Events Series**_** by **_**jmolly**_**. So far, it comprises of six individual stories, including **_**Unforeseen Events**_**, **_**Minibusted**_**, **_**Leashing the Victorian, Prenuptual Posturing, Toasty Warm **_**and**_** I Hunger for Your Touch. **_**These six stories fill in the missing gaps of Breaking Dawn from about one month before the wedding till the honeymoon (which is currently in progress) and include much new and added detail. It includes a much happier, looser and crazier Edward who has fun and definitely laughs more. **


	3. Protests & Proclamations

**Hello again, here's your third chapter.**

**I'm only getting reviews out of this people, no money (rather unfortunately). All these characters and themes are owned by the lovely Ms. Meyer, and though I wish I could have thought of all this first, I didn't, and so now she owns them. I only own the computer which I typed this on. **

* * *

_**Previously: **_

_It took all of two seconds for someone to answer._

"_Alice speaking."_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Bella's POV**

Even though I knew deep down that the chance I would be connected through to a vampire by hitting one of the buttons on a vampire's speed dial, it still hit me like a ton of bricks when my former best friend answered.

It was evident in her bright, chirpy voice that she was confused as to why someone was ringing her from her own house when it was supposed to be deserted.

It grew apparent that I hadn't answered her, and I wasn't sure whether I should. Alice finding out I was a vampire and had just broken into her house wouldn't go quite so well. I was reaching for the end button when her confused voice rang out again over the speaker.

"Edward, is that you?"

I inhaled a sharp gust of air and pressed the end button, the hollow _beep_ of the dial tone sounding across the room, before turning itself off.

If she was asking for Edward, that meant he wasn't wherever it was they had taken off to, and probably that he hadn't been staying with them for at least couple of days. Maybe Alice asking for Edward that way meant that she didn't know where he was, which probably alluded to the confusion in her tone.

So why wasn't he with his family?

He said that _they_ would move somewhere else, together. That he didn't want me to come with _them_. Those words implied that he was moving with them.

Probably his distractions, I decided. An image of a beautiful woman with strawberry blond hair and the same golden eyes as the Cullen's came floating into my head. I'd never actually met this vampire who had supposedly made a move for Edward before me, but I imagined her to be more beautiful than I ever could be. Was it that now Edward had discovered the world of love, he had gone onto someone he could actually love? Someone who was equal to him in every way? A beautiful, rich vampire. Someone who was good enough for him, and he would be someone good enough for her.

I knew he was never supposed to love me.

I focused back on the room I was in, a red haze covering everything like a transparent sheet had been hung in front of me. I felt Jealous of Tanya. Whoever she was, if Edward was with her, she was off much better than me.

I approached the door, and clamped my hand in a fist, feeling the need to leave a calling card, like taggers do on the streets. I felt the need to destroy, just to show Edward a fraction of the pain he'd left me in.

I reached back, but an inch of air was between the wood and my knuckle when the phone rang out again, saving the door from a hole that would have been quickly punched through it. It only took one look in the reflection of one of the many windows of the house to see that the last light was flashing red once again.

I yanked the door swiftly open, and pulled it closed behind me while I ran down the porch, feeling the entire frame of the house vibrate with the movement. I really didn't want to be discovered at their house. I had already left too much scent around; I just had to pray that if someone came to investigate, they wouldn't recognize it was mine.

I ran vaguely in the direction I thought I had come from, trying to get as far away from the house as possible and then solve the problem of how I was going to find Jake.

Even so, apparently also thinking of the devil will make the devil appear.

"Bella!" Jake's voice cried out with relief as he suddenly appeared to the left of me, "geez, where were you?"

"Hunting," I replied cautiously, widening my eyes to prove my innocence.

"Oh," his eyes narrowed.

"What?"

"You never go out this long," he observed.

My brow furrowed in confusion, my innocence scheme forgotten, "How long have I been out?"

"Three and a half hours," he grumbled, his arms crossing.

"Well, I obviously didn't murder anyone, did I, Jacob? I am perfectly capable of handling myself, you know. You don't have to act like an over-concerned parent," I told him, my arms defensibly crossing too, and straightening my back to try and – unsuccessfully – make me taller.

"You're my responsibility," he protested.

My mouth dropped wide open. How dare he!

"I'm eighteen," I said, appalled.

"And you're a vampire. I need to make sure I'm with you all the time, otherwise Sam might change his mind."

I flinched. "You're lying. You would never allow Sam to kill me."

He didn't respond for a few moments, his resolve faltering, and I started to feel smug that I had won this debate. I turned around to head back to Emily's, but Jake spoke up again.

"So if you have been hunting for three hours, why are your eyes still black?"

I stopped in my tracks. I hadn't thought about my eyes! I tried to think of an excuse.

"Well... I was... in the bushes. At school." _Well_ _done Bella, _I thought. _He's _so_ going to believe you now._

"You were in the bushes at school," Jake said, his tone suggesting he knew I was lying. When I turned around he had his muscular arms crossed, and one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," I shrugged it off indifferently, "just watching my friends."

"Watching your friends..." Jake said, snorting.

"I just wanted to make sure that Angela and Ben were still okay," I defended myself, "and that Jess and Mike had finally noticed each other. I just wanted to see how they were doing..." The idea made me pensive. This idea was actually starting to sound good. Maybe I _should_ visit my old high school sometime.

Jake started tapping his foot against the mossy forest floor, and then smirked, raising one eyebrow in challenge, "It's Sunday,"

_Oops._

"What's it matter to you anyway? Why do you suddenly care what I do all the time?"

"I already told you that Bella," I could see he was getting more annoyed, "Sam–"

As soon as Sam's name came out of his mouth, I had to stop him, "Sam has nothing to do with this. He would just let me go off by myself. He's already seen I'm not a danger to humans, he would let me leave if I wanted to!"

"You would never leave," he scoffed, completely sure of himself, "let's go," he decided, stomping off to La Push.

"You know," I sneered, "I don't think I will."

He snickered, which just made me angrier.

"Look Jacob, I now have forever to do absolutely nothing, so I might as well start doing something. Right now I'm just sitting around at La Push, being a nuisance to everybody. I'm not going to end up staying with Sam and you for the rest of eternity. You've already proved I'm not a danger to humans, why can't I just leave? I might as well do something with this life; I could go to school somewhere else, I could travel, I could go to college!" I finished off the longest rant I'd probably ever had.

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at me, thinking I wasn't serious about what I was saying.

Still in the frame of mind my outburst, I sped past him and ran as fast as I could to La Push. I could feel the air around me vibrate delicately, and I knew that Jake had phased. I still had a pretty good head start, so I wasn't worried about him stopping me before I could carry out my decision.

I reached Emily's house in record time, sped into the hallway to get the bag that contained my possessions, and ran back out the sliding doors. I could hear someone approaching at high speed from where I had just come from, and I hurried into the trees behind the house.

I didn't get far before I felt a warm hand grab mine, and turned around ready to address Jacob.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" asked Sam's deep voice.

I raised my eyebrows in the surprise of seeing Sam here, and then put on my frequently used poker face.

Sam's face showed no surprise, however, and he placed a light rectangle object in my palm. Looking down, I saw a small cell phone.

"Just in case there's any trouble," he stared at me, studying my face, waiting for an answer. I nodded at him, and put the cell phone in my bag. I thought it a bit strange that Sam would be letting me go like this, even though I had told Jacob he would. I had been counting on a fight.

"Just don't get killed," he warned me, but I could see a small smile threatening to come out.

"I'll try. You know how I'm a danger magnet."

He smiled fully this time, "yeah, yeah. Just check in with us once in a while."

I nodded, and we stood awkwardly for a few moments.

"Can– "

"Where– "

We both spoke at the same time, and laughed uncomfortably.

"Can... can you tell Jake I'm sorry. And... that I'll miss him?"

Sam smiled, and shifted around for a bit, and then asked me his question.

"Where are you going to go?"

His question made me freeze, because I really didn't know. I could go to college, but I wouldn't have any idea how to fake a story or any documents, or where to live. I didn't even have any money! I didn't know where I could go now, I had no home. I could go check on Renee and Phil, but where would that leave me, apart from in the middle of a city filled with two million humans?

Sam could see my frightened expression, and took my hand gently, startling me, since he never showed physical affection towards anyone but Emily.

"You wouldn't be off any better here, Bella. I can see it in your eyes that you're only here for us. I'm honestly surprised that you didn't leave earlier. Go find something to do out there. You can take care of yourself. Why do you think I would be letting you run off?"

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, so there were a few quiet moments till Sam released my hand and nudged my shoulder.

"I mean it, take care of yourself. And call us, kay?"

I nodded and twisted my mouth into half a smile. Sam took off running back in the direction he came from and glanced back to my still form once before disappearing behind the green canopy.

I hadn't realised how quiet and lonely the forest could be out here.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Over the next couple of hours I wandered round the state, weaving through countless trees and spending some time finally quenching my thirst by hunting around Mt. Rainier. I couldn't bring myself to run further than 200 miles away from the place I used to call home. From the place everyone I knew and loved lived. The one place where I knew the Cullen's once were. The place Edward and I had loved each other, where we had experienced countless extraordinary moments together. The place where my life was.

The place where my life _had been_.

I had to now do something with this new life I had received. I wouldn't stand around and waste away. The question was _what would I do_?

At least I knew I could interact with humans right away. Maybe I could get a job somewhere... obviously nowhere sunny. Maybe an indoor job somewhere in the north. I could study somewhere.

I had never had an idea of what I wanted to do after high school. After Edward came into my life, I'd always thought I would become a vampire and follow him around the world. Plan B was college, but I would've had no idea what to major in. It wasn't like I was gifted in anything. I was average.

If I went anywhere and interacted with humans though, I would have to fake the documents and papers required, and I had no idea how to do that myself, or who could do that for me. I had a sneaking suspicion there were no forger listings in the yellow pages.

I had no idea what to do anymore. I wasn't doing anything for myself by staying with Jake and the pack. Going back to either Charlie or Renee and Phil would backfire, because they had to think I was dead. Interacting with humans required fundamentals that I wouldn't be able to make. I couldn't even go as far as buying anything because I had no money to my name.

I had just been changed into a vampire a matter of weeks ago. I was just 18 years old, and it was too lonely out here, I was all by myself. Even I, the ever independent girl who had raised her mother emotionally and then cared for her father, needed someone right now. I couldn't make any of these important choices by myself.

That's when the simple solution popped up in my head.

I didn't know what to do with myself.

I needed to see someone that was just like me.

Someone who could help me in this life, give me direction.

I had to find a vampire.

Guess who the only vampires I knew were.

* * *

**I know that Jake is cruelly OOC in this chapter compared to the last one, but he had to be angry in order for the story to progress. And Sam's pretty nice. Talk about role reversal.**

**Still liking this?**

**This time round its **_**Master of the Universe**_** by **_**Snowqueens Icedragon**_**. Many of you can probably guess what it's about judging by the title, but for those of you who can't it does have some dark themes. It is a about Bella Swan, who is drafted to interview the reclusive enigmatic Edward Cullen, multi-millionaire CEO of his company. It's an encounter that will change her life irrevocably, leading her to the darkest realms of desire. There are many twists and turns, and has me waiting eagerly every time for the next update.**


	4. Notes & Narrative

**I have to write another disclaimer to remind everyone who thinks I'm a horrible person that steals people's characters and stories and copies them to make money and become famous, that that's never gonna happen. I'd love to become a famous author, but just not with this story. Moral of the story – all characters, settings (etc) belong to Ms. Meyer, who makes tons of money from them and is very famous. Nothing belongs to me. *whimpers***

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_**Previously: **_

_I had to find a vampire._

_Guess who the only vampires I knew were._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Bella's POV**

It was that last thought that sent me sprinting to the big white mansion just off the 101.

I had to find them – the Cullen's – wherever they had taken off to. My subconscious had catapulted me towards the one place I knew that they had ever lived. They surely would leave a trail leading to their new location, wouldn't they? Somewhere there had to be a stray sheet of evidence detailing their new address, maybe a phone number... something.

It only took several minutes at my fastest speed to before I could smell the wall of scent, and seconds to reach the front door of the Cullen's house once again.

I again disarmed the alarm, and walked through the front door. Passing the phone, piano, and lounge, I made my way up the stairs and decided that I would start looking for any clues in Carlisle's office. Since Carlisle was the head of the family, I figured he would organize most of the paperwork.

I'd only been in Carlisle's study a handful of times, but every time I entered I was still amazed by the array of paintings hanging on the wall behind me when I entered. So this time I looked around the familiar room, seeing everything in place, but when I turned to the wall I saw all the paintings had disappeared.

_Of course_, my conscience reasoned, _they had moved_, _so it would only be logical that_ _they would bring their history with them._

I didn't dwell too much on the hurt that the missing paintings brought me, and how the Cullen's had seemingly moved on so easily, but instead focused my attention to the towering metal cabinets on the left of Carlisle's desk.

I was reaching for the first handle when my hand stopped in its tracks. I owed the Cullen's their privacy, didn't I? Maybe it was wrong to go searching through all this information, it was wrong to barge into their private files. But how else was I going to find out where they were now? Carlisle had told the hospital that the family was relocating to Los Angeles, but I knew better. There was no way that they could go outside during the day there, with the sun shining every day. They could in reality have moved anywhere in the world. Hell, they could have gone to Mars! They were vampires for Pete's sake.

Well, I had to try and look in here then, didn't I? How else was I going to narrow down where they could have moved to? Call them and ask? _Hey Alice, I'm vampire and I need to find you._ Yeah right.

I rummaged through the metal filing cabinets one by one, in each one finding white papers perfectly organized by date, content and name. I found the normal human papers – birth certificates, passports, driver's licences, tax forms, copies of ownership forms for the dozens of homes they owned, an address book, school enrolments – everything that could be possibly needed to fake an authentic story for anything possibly needed. Seeing all this meant I had an enormous amount of information – but then again, this information could have been everything from their past, and nothing from their future.

I categorized all the information I saw in my never-forgetting memory, and made sure everything looked untouched when I finally closed the last drawer. I looked back around the room, and I saw Carlisle's desk and the wall of books were the only things left that could possibly contain clues as to where they could've possibly gone.

I yanked open the top draw and saw a collection of stationary and writing utensils, then the middle one which contained folders of filled in accounting forms with a lot of big numbers. I crinkled my nose in horror when I saw the bottom one contained reinforced metal handcuffs, bottles of lube and empty condom wrappers, and quickly closed the draw, vowing to never go near the desk again, and trying to suppress the mental image of Carlisle and Esme my mind had conjured up.

I looked at the wall of books to my right and saw first editions of various _Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolf, _and_ Thomas Hardy_ novels among others, and I chose not to rummage through what was probably a genuine book collection.

I was miffed over what to do now, since Carlisle's study was probably the only place that contained any information. I took a deep breath and smelled woodsy paper coming from every room in the giant house and sighed, wondering if I was ever meant to find the Cullen's.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I was sitting on the three-seater in the lounge, playing with the cell phone Sam had given me when the idea popped up in my head.

I knew that all the Cullen's carried out the most expensive, complex and expensive phones on the planet – Blackberrys. And every Blackberry had a tracking chip.

I ran to the phone and pressed the _edit_ button for the speed-dials, and selected the eighth one to find out it was indeed assigned to Alice, and I took notice of her number. I opened the cabinet the phone was on and pulled out the phone book, looking for the phone number of the support line of the BlackBerry Company, and dialling the 1800 number once I located it.

I went through the automated response system to get through to the customer service and was greeted by a Texan accent.

"Good afternoon you're speakin' with Alexis. How may I help ya?"

"Um... hey. I lost my phone on holiday and I need you to track it?" It came out as a question rather than a request.

"Sure ma'am. I'll just be needin' your phone number there."

I gave her Alice's phone number.

"Kay, just needa have your name there."

Alice better not have registered this phone under a fake name.

"Err... Alice," I replied, and then half a second later added a rushed, "Cullen. Alice Cullen."

"That'll just be a minute," she said, and classical music started playing. It took me moment to recognize it was the climax of Claire De Lune playing, and I fought the tears at the ache of the memory just as the phone operator picked back up.

"You lost your phone at 2 Country Road in Ithaca, ma'am. This tracking service is correct within 200 metres."

Ithaca?

"Oh, yeah, that's my cousin's place, so that will be right. Uh, thanks... Alexis." I lied.

"You're welcome, ma'am, bye." And the cheery voice disconnected.

I put the handset back on the hook and looked around for a map, still mentally shocked at how easy it was to track down someone's phone, and saw two computers sitting in the corner of the room.

_Bingo!_

I pressed the on button and waited for the high tech system to warm up, thankfully not meeting any password barriers and then going onto Google Maps to search for the address.

I typed _Ithaca_ in the box and selected the _search maps_ button, the high speed – and most likely highly expensive – broadband connecting me in less than a second.

Then there was a dilemma. There were six _Ithaca's _in the United States alone, and then there was one in Australia and an island in Greece too.

I cursed and considered hitting the screen for a moment before remembering the whole address, not just the town.

I typed in _2 Country Rd, Ithaca_, and thankfully got one result 3 miles south of Ithaca, New York.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and hoped I'd really found the current home of the Cullen's.

But it seemed that two seconds of liberation wasn't good enough, because then I remembered I somehow had to get there.

I thanked God for the invention of the internet as I looked up the latest flight on United Airlines and booked the 7:47pm departure time, checking the option to pay when I was at the airport. That gave me just over four hours till the plane took off.

I knew from earlier escapades with the Cullen's that there was a safe with valuables, including many bundles of $100, hiding – ironically – behind a painting in the main hallway. I felt like a Bond girl as I twisted the lock with the _Cullen_ code, hearing the snaps and locks of the metal as each number was reached.

The safe was emptier than the last time I had seen it, but there was still a considerable amount of money wasting away, more than enough to support a family for a lifetime. I only felt slightly guilty when taking two of the many bundles of cash and locking the safe back up, positioning the painting perfectly upon the wall.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I snuck out of the bushes at the Capitol Mall in Olympia, having run as far as I could to the airport in Seattle without breaking city limits. I checked around me to make sure no one noticed my sudden appearance, and blended in with the shoppers at Safeway, signalling for a taxi on Harrison Ave.

The Native American driver greeted me when I sat down inside.

"Where to, miss?" His voice reminded me of Billy.

"Seattle Airport as quick as possible, please."

He whistled, "That'll be close to $200, probably more considering it'll be rush hour traffic getting in there."

I discretely pulled out five of the notes out of the bundle of cash, being careful to keep the rest of it in my backpack.

I waved the notes around just as he looked back to merge into the next lane, and he raised his eyebrows, surprised. He studied my face and appearance for a moment before clearing his expression and looking forward at the road.

There were a few minutes of silence before he started the complementary cab-driver talk.

"Where you from?"

I decided to tell him the truth, deciding it couldn't be too much harm.

"Forks. You probably wouldn't know where–"

"Oh, I've heard of it all right. Grew up on the rez just outside of La Push," he offered.

"Oh." I looked at him and decided he was around sixty, and he probably lived here now, so he wouldn't have any reason to contact anybody there about me.

"Yeah," he continued, seeming to read my mind, "live here in Olympia now. At least there's more than a Thriftway and takeaway shop here," he laughed.

I hummed in agreement.

"You running away from home?" He asked, half-amused.

I laughed shortly shook my head, but I knew inside that was just what I was doing.

"I'm visiting friends in New York," I offered, but that was the extent of detail I was giving this guy.

"It'll be cold up there this time of year."

"I guess..." I droned, looking out the window and seeing we were just passing out of the city.

"Is that small pack all you're bringing?"

I looked down at my scruffy orange back pack that contained all that I owned. I nodded at him in the mirror, "my friend up there told me not to bring anything, and that we'll go shopping together once we get there," I made up a reliable excuse quick. This whole lying business was getting easier – and that had me slightly worried.

The driver – I looked quickly at his licence plastered above the mirror and saw his name was Perry –looked slightly worried, but didn't reply as he drove on silently down the highway.

Thankfully the airport was far enough south out of the city centre of Seattle that there wasn't much rush hour traffic at all. I paid Perry for the driving, gave him a large tip and thanked him as I walked into the domestic terminal and headed towards the United desk to check in just under 2 hours before departure.

The airport was the largest crowd of humans I had encountered since my transformation, and I found myself spending most of the time on the outside viewing deck on top of the airport terminal – where there were hardly any humans because of the temperature – till the boarding call was made for my flight.

I could see why the Cullen's hated planes. The noise of the engines, combined with the cramped space and the three-hundred sweaty humans squashed in against me made the plane ride the most awful one ever.

A crowded Chicago airport and a plane change later, the flight was landing at dawn at the Regional Airport just north of Ithaca. The small airport was a relief to the two larger one's I had just visited, and I calmed down as I hopped of the plane with only my hand luggage and waived down a cab.

Once again I sat in the back.

"Where to?" A man with an Indian accent asked, and I nervously replied the address to him. If the address was right, it meant I was now within less than ten miles of the Cullen's.

I was spared to do any talking, and sat in silence. The twenty minute ride passed through Ithaca, passing the city centre and the beautiful old university buildings. All too soon though, the cab was going into the country side, and I recognized the road we were on from the Street View application I had used earlier.

We slowed down and turned right, then right again into a short driveway, and after the break in the trees I saw a period mansion, with grey and white stone, and a side building a few hundred metres away. There was a sculpted garden forming a circle around the house, and I could see trees disappearing to form a forest in the distance.

The taxi driver clearing his throat stopped me from staring at the building, and I tossed a $100 bill into his lap and uttered a thanks.

The second I opened the door a fresh wall of vampire scent hit me, and I knew I'd come to the right place. I couldn't help the smile that spread onto my face as I slammed the taxi door shut and shrugged the backpack on. The same scents I'd smelled in Forks – cinnamon, hyacinth, pear, seawater, rising bread, pine, vanilla, leather, apple, moss, lavender, chocolate... all so sweet and pleasant – were waving around me.

The cab pulled away behind me and I started walking forward towards the front door, intending this time to knock and wait, instead of busting in.

They were going to have to answer me, whether they liked it or not.

* * *

***twirling my thumbs and humming contently***

**I'm recommending the amazing **_**Confessions of a Nanny**_** by **_**Melissa228.**_** Bella Swan accepts a job as a nanny for single father, Dr. Edward Cullen. Living under the same roof and Bella's seduction plans, leads these two into a whirlwind of pleasure and excitement. Every chapter has me begging for more!**

**There is a link to some awesomely hot pics of the Eclipse movie on my profile. Most of them are of Edward and Bella smooching, but there is also one from the fight scene towards the end of the book. If you haven't checked them out yet, what are you waiting for!**


	5. Expose & Expel

**I don't own any of the characters or the settings and I'm defiantly not making any money from them – they belong to Summit and SM. I just put a copyright on this story.**

**Sorry about the super long wait - my computer broke. Again. Twice in three months now - I'm going to start looking around for another one soon.**

* * *

_**Previously: **_

_The cab pulled away behind me and I started walking forward towards the front door, intending this time to knock and wait, instead of busting in._

_They were going to have to answer me, whether they liked it or not._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Alice's POV**

"Jasper!"

My husband rushed down the stairs and saw me sitting in the lounge with my laptop, immediately relaxing some and making his way slowly to me and taking a seat.

I didn't know what to think when I stared back at the computer screen. Disappointment? Hurt? Excitement? Fulfilment? Happiness? Grief?

Jasper sensed my conflicted emotions and moved closer to hug me rubbing my back up and down in supportive strokes.

Every time I saw another detail of my human life this same procedure would happen. I would be happy and exited I had uncovered another part of my past. I would be miserable knowing what the humans back then had done to me. I would feel disappointment for my parents for letting me go, for not believing their own daughter. I would feel satisfaction knowing that I had found another piece of the puzzle.

Jasper read the article that was currently displayed on the 17" monitor quickly, and turned to me with guarded eyes. He didn't know what to think either.

Under the Deaths category of the Friday, July 2, 1920 Biloxi newspaper, in a short article stood:

_**Mary-Alice Brandon Dies.**_

_Miss Brandon, daughter of Frederick  
and Katherine Brandon, died this  
Wednesday morning at the Roanoke  
hospital following a prolonged illness  
aged 19 years. The profession and  
cause of death for Miss Brandon is  
unknown. She is survived by her  
parents, two brothers and sister._

The article mentioned nothing about my visions or my admission to the mental institution my parents threw me in. My parents would have probably been too ashamed to be publicly associated with a crazy daughter. I was surprised they even publicly admitted my death, since not many knew of my existence in the first place.

I glanced at the clock in the bottom left of the screen and saw Jasper had twenty minutes to get to his philosophy class, and noticed he was already dressed accordingly to go out. I kissed him briefly and told him so, and he glimpsed at me lovingly in one of his meaningful glances. I sent out positive and loving vibes, reassuring him I was fine, and saw him head up the stairs, collect his books and precede into the garage, getting into Rosalie's M3 and driving away. Since Rosalie and Emmett had taken off onto another one of their second honeymoons to explore in the north of Africa, they had left behind both of their cars for our use here, although our close proximity to Cornell meant that we could walk there and not stand out.

Edward up and leaving us just over a week after leaving Forks meant that he wasn't here either, and suddenly the large house purchased here for the seven of us now only contained four of us, and only Esme and I during the day. With Carlisle teaching days at Cornell and then leaving for ten hour shifts at the hospital afterwards, it meant that he was home only a few hours of the night before leaving for teaching again. Leaving Forks had truly ruined our happy family and broken us beyond repair.

I still didn't understand why Edward demanded we leave Forks all of a sudden, right after Bella's eighteenth birthday party. In his lonesome mind, Edward had decided that he wasn't good enough for Bella, and that we were putting her in danger by our kind being in such close proximity to her. After Jasper's lapse in control, I followed him to take refuge in Alaska, but then some days later when we got the call we were to come straight to Ithica, we were more than confused. Upon arrival, we saw the whole family – minus Bella – in a loose circle, with Edward shunning himself and sitting faceless in the corner. It was explained that we were now living here, we weren't going back to Forks – ever – and that all our things had been put in our respective rooms. Even I didn't _see _this coming.

Edward had demanded that none of us ever take up contact with Bella again, and cornered me that evening to make sure I never look for Bella's future. I swore I wouldn't, and I honestly didn't look, but I still _saw_. I was so attuned to looking out for Bella that I saw glimpses of her life after Edward left. She was either curled up crying, or sitting blankly. She only talked when it was asked of her. She was broken. We did that to her.

Daily images would come into my mind, all until a couple of weeks ago when abruptly all the glimpses into her future stopped. It had me worried, and I was nervous until Carlisle came home and told me it was probably because I hadn't seen her in months and the fact she was human and not like me were the reasons I couldn't see her.

I was broken from my pregnant stare at the TV by my cell phone ringing, and I dug around in my pocket and pressed the talk button while not looking at the ID, figuring it would be Carlisle using my power to see into his patient's futures again. So when I chirped, "Alice speaking," into the phone and waited for someone to answer, only to get a sharp gasp, I knew something was wrong.

I took the phone away from my ear and looked on the screen; I was surprised to see the word _home. _I'd never gotten around to changing the phone number from our house in Forks to the one from here, because I'd never considered this place home. The place where the seven of us were together and Bella was with us was where _home_ would always be.

I wondered who could possibly be at home, and started eliminating people. Esme was upstairs drafting blue prints for the outbuilding on our property, Carlisle was at the hospital, Jasper in class, Rosalie and Emmett... surely they would use their own phones and not call from Forks? Then that left...

"Edward, is that you?"

The dial tone sounded in my ear, and I was left confused as to who could possibly be there. The last time Edward had called us he had been in Colorado and he had told us he was heading south. That had been more than a month ago. He hadn't had the courage to give us his phone number yet – since he'd bought a new phone – but I knew what it was, since I had _seen_ it. I hadn't told anyone though, because I respected his need for privacy.

I rang the number for _home_, and let the dial tone beep nine times before it crossed to the answering machine.

"Um... hey Edward. If your there, could you call back? Even just for a little while. We're worried about you. We just want to know if you're okay." I stayed silent for a few moments, hesitating before adding, "Love you," and hanging up.

I looked into his immediate future and a few minutes of concentrating only bought me fleeting images of rainforest, nothing like the scenery in Washington. I stopped and was irked at the holes my vision was bringing me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Esme glided down the stairs and I could _see_ she was planning on going grocery shopping. She collected the keys from the pot we kept them in and glanced over at me.

"You coming, sweetie?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded and got up, getting my jacket from the hooks and making my way to the garage. Glancing to the left I saw Esme scrutinizing me, probably thinking where my excitement was. I smiled tenderly at her, and she unlocked the Volvo. Edward had taken his Aston Martin with him, claiming it was faster. But I knew the reason he didn't take his Volvo was because it smelled deliciously of Bella, and he couldn't bear it. Even after nearly five months, the floral smell still hung in the air.

Shopping was a chore that needed to be done to retain the human image, but many of us found it therapeutic. The classical grocery store music, the rhythm of pushing the carts up and down the aisles, and selecting human food was somewhat remedial, and whenever we had any troubles on our mind we would accompany our main shopper Esme along to the local Wegmans.

I _saw_ Esme deciding how to start a talk with me and waited for her to make up her mind.

"What's wrong?" Esme said, deciding to get straight to the point.

"Apart from us moving to the other side of the country and subsequently half of us disappearing?"

Esme looked sad, and I felt instantly guilty about what I had just said.

"Yes, apart from the mess our family is at the moment."

"I got this strange phone call this morning," I mused, and the look on Esme's face made me continue, "from our house back in Forks."

Esme gasped, and I turned around quickly to see if she knew who it was.

"Is it Edward?" Esme whispered, almost afraid to say his name.

"That's what I thought. I asked, but then... they just hung up." I scrunched up my face.

Esme was confused too, clearly not having an idea of who could have possibly be at our house bar Edward.

"Could it be someone from Denali?"

I considered it and thought it could be plausible, since they knew the code to get into our house.

"It wouldn't be a human," I wondered out loud, careful to keep my voice down since we were still shopping.

"Yes, no human could break into the house, or knows the code..." Esme pondered.

"And only the Denali's know the code, so it had to be one of them, right?" I could feel that my familiar cheery self was coming back. Maybe it wasn't the Denali's, but I felt better knowing it could be one of them.

"I'll have to ring Tanya when we get back to the house." Esme decided, and with that we finished out shopping and headed back to the car, enduring a silent ride home.

Esme proceeded to help me bring the groceries in, and I organized them into the various unused cupboards while overhearing Esme speaking to Tanya.

"No, Alice clearly was..."

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely not."

"I wouldn't know."

"He hasn't turned up there then?"

"Well, I'm not."

"Not Irina?"

"Oh, well pass my condolences onto her."

"You too. We'll get up there when the break arrives."

"Until then, goodbye, Tanya."

I couldn't hear the other part of the conversation, but I asked Esme what was going on when she came back downstairs.

"They don't know about anything," she said, sighing. "Edward hasn't gotten close to them at all since he left, and he hasn't contacted any of them, either. They haven't been to visit our house since we moved there all those years ago."

"What was that about Irina?" I asked, curious as to why Esme was giving her condolences.

"Laurent and Irina were heavily involved, more than we thought. He disappeared when they were hunting about a month ago, and they traced his scent to just outside Vancouver. They're pretty sure the wolves outside Forks got him."

"The wolves are there again?" I asked her, shocked.

"Yes, the first one went through his changes when we still living there."

I was shocked that I had never noticed the scent before.

"The other ones have only started changing within the last half year."

"How many are there?" I breathed.

"Five, currently. That's what Tanya thinks."

"Wow. So they've finally re-appeared."

Esme nodded and collected the empty shopping bags, depositing them in the recycling bin and making her way upstairs to work on her blueprints again.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I had just finished giving Jasper a very thorough welcoming home when Carlisle called for us to come back downstairs.

"So, Esme told me what you told her." Carlisle started once Jasper and I were seated in the loveseat.

I nodded once. I had been able to tell Jasper just before we disappeared into our room.

"Do you think we should go back to the house to check the scent?"

"I'm honestly not too worried, Carlisle. We haven't got anything in the house that could lead them here. Nothing valuable is there anymore, except for the papers that we left. And even if they get those papers, what will they do with them? If they expose them to the police, they would expose themselves too. So I think there isn't much to worry about, but we could be safe if one or two of us went over there in the weekend just to check."

Carlisle's response wasn't uttered because gravel crunching under the weight of tires could be heard approaching our house. A car was turning onto the driveway. All of us looked at each other with wide eyes, not knowing who it was – but hoping it was Edward.

The door opened and a vampire scent hit us like a sonic boom, the sweet smell reviving the animal in all of us. This scent wasn't one I had come across before, it was sweet, too sweet, but also there was a slight waft of a horrible wet dog smell. What was this?

Jasper growled and wrapped an arm around me protectively, and Carlisle's uncommonly panicked face turned to me, and I answered the silent question he was asking only me by shaking my head. I couldn't _see_ who it was. Carlisle's face turned to Jasper for a split second before putting his welcoming face on and taking Esme's hand to lead them to the door.

Jasper and I followed slowly behind, wary of this vampire that had turned up alone and unannounced, and somehow knew where we were.

Was this the vampire that had broken into our house?

A tentative knock sounded, and Carlisle gripped the door handle, sending us all glances before yanking open the door.

* * *

**So, I know technically nothing happens in this chapter, but I had to get a Cullen POV in there. Next chapter we get to see what every bodies reactions will be!**

**This week its **_**Clipped Wings and Inked Armor**_** by **_**hunterhunting.**_** Haunted by her past Bella is broken and alone. Starting over, can she let go of the guilt that consumes her when she meets a beautiful tattoo artist or will his own personal demons destroy them first? Written perfectly and gets very angsty. Contains Tattward and Inkella :)**


	6. Shocks & Surprises

**This chapter was both fun and challenging to write – I hope you enjoy it and agree with what happens.**

**This story is copyrighted by me, but the characters names, the ideas, the settings and basically everything else belongs to SM and Summit. Lucky them :(**

* * *

_**Previously: **_

_Was this the vampire that had broken into our house?_

_A tentative knock sounded, and Carlisle gripped the door handle, sending us all glances before yanking open the door._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Bella's POV**

I moved up the front steps to the porch and couldn't hear a bit of activity going on inside, which had me worried. Were they even in there?

I knocked slowly on the door, frightened of their reaction. They didn't want me, did they? Maybe they would ban me from ever seeing them again. Would Edward be there now? Or would he still be gone?

The door was suddenly yanked open, and my eyes focused on four vampires.

Their faces though, were not like I expected.

Carlisle was shocked, Esme's eyes were wider than I thought they could be, Jasper confused with his mouth hanging open, and Alice squeaked and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Wha... Bella?" Esme was the first to speak, whispering my name and still clearly in shock.

I smiled a small, shy smile, and nodded.

They were like statues frozen in time, only Carlisle's hand losing grip on the door and flying to his side, and Alice starting to jump up and down slightly.

"Hi," I said in a small voice.

Alice squealed and ran to me, hugging me full force and yelling loudly in my ear. That seemed to bring Esme out of her trance, and she looked me up and down while I was frozen by the force of Alice's hug.

"How did this happen?" Carlisle deliberated, almost to himself.

Esme walked up to me. "Come inside, Bella. It's so great to see you, and I think you have a few things to tell us," she smiled and took my hand, leading a stunned me and an attached shrieking Alice inside, past a frozen Jasper and Carlisle.

Alice finally let go of me when we got to the couch in their new home, taking my backpack off my shoulder and frowning at it, depositing it roughly by throwing it at the staircase. She sat on the couch and pulled me next to her, her smile lighting up her whole face and her body vibrating with excitement.

Esme laughed quietly, and I looked up to see what it was about.

"I was about to ask you if you wanted a drink. But obviously..." she smiled again.

"Obviously I don't want one." I finished for her.

"Yes..." she trailed off, narrowing her eyes at me.

In the awkward silence I looked around and their new home. It was sparsely decorated, all of Esme's favourite paintings on the walls. Wooden panels decorated one of the walls, distinctively different then the wall of glass in Forks. I saw a large kitchen disappearing round the corner, and the oak staircase leading up to the second level. This house was obviously very big, and I couldn't help but utilize my _extra_ senses and realise the four vampires in front of me were the only ones that had been in the house for some time.

"Where's E– Emmett?" I cut my self of from saying _his_ name.

"Emmett and Rosalie are currently enjoying their second honeymoon in the north of Africa," Carlisle informed me, sitting down next to Esme. We all stared at each other uncomfortably, and nobody broke the silence till Alice couldn't help but burst.

"Oh my gosh Bella! How are you a vampire? Did you ask somebody to do it? Did somebody bite you? Did you just turn? When did it happen? Why can't I see you? Why did you come here? How did you get here? Was it you on the phone? Oh, it was, wasn't it! How didn't I see this before! Are you coping? You seem to be fine around humans, otherwise you would have bit the cab driver... how do you do it? Did you see–"

"Alice, please," Esme reprimanded her, seeing my flustered expression, "let Bella explain."

I decided that since these four people in front of me deserved to know the truth. If they were going to let me stay, I might as well tell them now. It's not like it was a big secret.

"Laurent came back," I whispered, hearing shocked gasps around the room. "He... he was getting revenge for Victoria. He said that she wanted me because Edward killed her mate, and so she wanted to kill his. Mate for mate. I guess she didn't know..."

"Anyway, he said he would be kind, kill me quickly. He bit me, but then the wol–" I stopped myself, I forgot that they wouldn't know about the werewolves in La Push.

I tried to think of how to keep the secret of the wolves out of this, but I realised that having spent the last three weeks with them, there was no way I could keep them out of this.

But hadn't I told Jacob some things about the Cullen's? Hadn't I stood in front of everyone and guiltily admitted _his_ mind-reading ability? About Alice's visions? Jasper's empath powers? Wouldn't that mean, logically, I could tell Alice, Carlisle and Esme about the wolves?

But more so, would I _want_ to tell them? Was I putting the packs lives in danger if I would tell their secret?

"So, he bit you." Alice's voice was clipped and short, tinted with a hint of annoyance.

"Yes," I replied curtly.

"How come he didn't drain you?" Carlisle asked, still genuinely interested, even though Alice was furrowing her eyebrows and muttering incoherently away at herself.

"Uh..." I decided to get it over and done with. "The wolves dragged him off me. Then they killed him."

I looked at Esme, who was staring at me with wide eyes. As soon as my eyes rested on her she catapulted off the couch and squeezed in next to me, hugging me around my shoulders.

"My poor girl," she said softly, kissing the side of my forehead. I folded into her, relishing in the contact and motherly protectiveness only Esme would have.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come back, Bella. If I had known..." Alice trailed off, burning into my eyes to try to get me to understand. "I would've come back. But I couldn't see!" She cried out, frustrated as she pulled roughly at her short hair, and then sobbed into my lap.

The combined emotions of Esme and Alice must have woken Jasper up from his daze, because he knelt down beside Alice and patted her head, smoothing down her spiky hair.

Esme squeezed me tighter, as if it was at all possible. "It's our entire fault. We should have never let him leave. Why didn't we stay? Why did it have to come to this?" She rambled, almost to herself.

I hoped that was a rhetorical question, as I didn't know what to say to that, so I just kept my mouth shut and absorbed Esme's motherly comforting. I indulged in her love while I could get it.

"I don't mean to sound rude, Bella," Carlisle's kind voice startled me, "but, why did you come here?"

I bit my lip and thought over what I was going to say before I blurted out incomprehensible and embarrassing things.

"Well... I– I thought that since you guys were... like me, uh..." I stumbled through the sentence, and took a deep breath, "like me, that you could..." how did I say this? "Um... kind of help me?" It came out as a question. "Like, you know... err... _settle_" I used my fingers to make speech marks in the air.

"Of course we would, Bella," Esme crooned, and I looked into her deep golden eyes. She reached up and brushed my matted hair, and I realised with a pang that she didn't feel cold to me anymore. She felt... normal.

I truly smiled for the first time in days.

"Ooh! Bella, come with me! You can have the guest room! It's even got purple bedding! How awesome! You could be like my little sister!" Alice got even more exited, and squealed as she thought of something else, "I can buy you HEAPS of clothes! You didn't bring any of your old stuff! Yay! Ohmygosh I am so exited! We can go to New York! Ooh! NY Fashion Week's coming soon! Yay! I can have a little sister who could come! Are you going to go–"

She stopped at once when she looked behind my back, and I turned slightly to see what had caught her attention, but I only saw a calm Esme staring back at me.

"Let's ask Bella what she wants for once, shall we, Alice?" Alice's eyes widened, she nodded and pressed her lips firmly together, however she was still bouncing in her seat.

I looked around the room and saw everyone's eyes on me, looking expectant. I remembered I had a question to answer.

"I mean... I could get my own place somewhere. Um... I don't know," I brushed my hand through my hair, "I guess I don't have any money though... and I'd need to somehow fake papers or something..." I obviously hadn't thought about this much, and I chastised myself for not thinking about this earlier. I guess I had been too worried about their reactions to seeing me on their doorstep, and I hadn't thought much beyond that.

"But Bella..." Alice whined.

Esme interrupted her daughter, "You can always count on us, no matter what Bella, even though I know it contradicts what happened earlier," she sniffed once, and patted my hand. "We would be happy if you needed to lean on us for a while."

I stayed quiet, replaying her words. Alice squeaked, and I really hope it wasn't because she saw my resolve faltering.

"I guess... that would be nice." I said quietly.

"Then it's all sorted, Bella. We can help you get over your apparently un-existent new-born phase," Carlisle said, saying the second part of the sentence with a smile.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Several hours and conversations later, I was escorted to the guest bedroom by Alice.

She looked in my backpack with disgust, and plopped it on the floor next to the armchair.

"We're going to need to get you some new clothes," she said, serious for once. I nodded.

"Everything look okay?"

I nodded again.

"Okay..." she drawled out, "well, I suppose I'll let you get settled, then. Did you want–"

Alice stopped mid-sentence and her eyes glazed over. I instantly got worried, but a second later she focused back on me and smiled. I remembered vaguely from my human life the look that came on Alice's face when she was having a vision.

"We'll have fun, Bella. You don't have to worry about anything anymore." Alice hugged me more softly this time, tenderly, and walked out.

Well, how could I not worry?

I sat down on the edge of the bed and peered around the room, taking in the events from the past 24 hours. I felt oddly tired. Emotionally, not physically.

A knock sounded on the door not much later, and after my meagre _come in_, Carlisle appeared around the door. He smiled and closed the door behind him, not coming any further into the room. There was deep silence for a minute while he studied my face, and I looked around the room, feeling the weight of his stare.

"How are you feeling, Bella?"

I couldn't help but smile at his question. The doctor in him had clearly taken over. I did however know that he wasn't talking about headaches or stomach trouble.

"I don't know how to explain it," I said to the expensive duvet covering the king bed, "it's overwhelming." I waved my arms around in a hopeless gesture.

Carlisle nodded, "I understand. You must know how it was for me at first, knowing I had become exactly the creature I had hunted before. I thought I didn't deserve to live, that vampires and witches weren't real, and I was simply dreaming. I tried to abstain from the thirst. I didn't want to believe that my worst nightmare had come true."

"I hid for months, trying to figure out what I'd become. Despising myself." He came to sit next to me on the bed, "I repressed any urges to quench my thirst, to run, to test my capabilities. I too was overwhelmed. But I'm glad that you have us to talk to, to relate to now. I hope that the wolves took care of your needs for the weeks that you were there. I must apologise, again, for–"

Carlisle had started this familiar sentence enough times already – so had the rest of the family – and so I cut him off. I hated apologies now. It was the only one anyone ever said to me.

"Its fine, Carlisle. Thank you for explaining. Explaining how this was for you. I... I think I'm finding it easier than everybody else. I can't be sure... but I think it has to be something to do with me knowing about this whole... thing, "I waved my hands around in the air, "before the change happened. That's my theory."

Carlisle thought about my statement. "I guess that's way of looking at it – your preparation."

There was silence.

"Have you thought... about what you would like to do?"

I shook my head _no_.

'It's all right. You can stay here for as long as you like. Don't worry about anything, Bella," and with that, he patted my hand and smiled before leaving the room, leaving me to my own wild and scattered thoughts.

* * *

**What did you think of the sob fest?**

**The next chapter might take a while. Why you ask? It's because I don't know what's gonna happen – and I'm the author, so I kinda need to know what happens next. I need to think, and then write. **

**I'm recommending **_**Help Wanted **_**by**_** jaxon22.**_** Bella Swan applies for the job of PA to the rude, arrogant and distant Hollywood star Edward Cullen. Will she be able to do her job without letting feelings get in the way? I love the versions of Edward and Bella used in this story, and some of the settings used are beautiful (ie. Italian holidays!)**


	7. Calm & Calamity

**I am so sorry for leaving you guys without an update for over a month! But I'm sure you guys all know that real life does get in the way, but I have 2 weeks free time now so should be able to get some of this story done. On the other hand, I am SUPER exited at the reviews I'm getting! Thank you so much because you're reading this story and thank you so much more if you leave a review at the end!**

* * *

_**Previously: **_

"_Have you thought... about what you would like to do?"_

_I shook my head no._

'_It's all right. You can stay here for as long as you like. Don't worry about anything, Bella," and with that, he patted my hand and smiled before leaving the room, leaving me to my own wild and scattered thoughts._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Bella's POV**

The alarm clock on the nightstand displayed 12:01am.

They had left me mostly alone for the past day and a half, probably waiting for me to approach them first. Their activities continued on, like normal, I would guess. I heard Carlisle leave not much longer after our conversation, and didn't come back till around 8 this evening. He had been in his study since.

I got from Alice and Jaspers whispered conversations that Jasper was currently attending college, and I guessed that was where he was from 9 in the morning till 5 this afternoon. Esme had done some cleaning, and I had heard her rumbling around in her study earlier today. I had heard her go out a couple of hours ago.

Alice had been on her laptop from dawn till dusk, typing and clicking away while Jasper wasn't here.

The house was silent. Only a handful of interactions and conversations had taken place over the one and a half days I had been here, and even those had been empty requests for information, not interest in the other's lives.

There was no life anymore. I was used to Emmett's joyful bantering, Jaspers insight, Esmes loving spirit, Carlisle's parental oversight, Alice's playfulness, and _his_ love. It seemed like everything had disappeared, and it wasn't just affecting me.

I sighed and turned my head, so I was laying stock straight on the clean bed again, holding a book up above me. I was trying to focus on the lines of words printed on its pages, but honestly I couldn't even tell you what the name of the book was.

My mind was all over the place, trying to decide where my life would go next, how to interact with my new family, whether I should call the pack back in La Push, what everyone in the house was thinking, what Edward was doing now, whether he was thinking of me, _Edward, Edward, Edward..._

It seemed that every thought my spacious head entertained, they _always_ lead back to Edward. It was exhausting – not like I wanted to go to sleep, but I wanted to rest my mind, and sleep was the only way to do that.

God I missed sleep.

I _was_ thankful that I couldn't have the nightmares anymore, however.

It is said that dreams occur because the subconscious and conscious minds intersect and, in order to sort out experiences that occurred recently and fully conclude them, to work out what happened, someone has dreams. So dreams and sleep sort out the mess of images and sound one has seen and heard during the day, and file it away. It seemed that without dreams, my mind was a mess of information I needed to sort out.

I slammed by book – still open on the first page – down on the bedside table and rubbed my eyes. I curled up in a ball, hugging my knees to my chest, and pulled the covers from under me and tucked them around me. I closed my eyes and impossibly waited for sleep to come.

Of course it never did.

My mind wandered again – this time taking a more active course and wondering about Edward. I couldn't help but think of him, especially since the last 72 hours events had circled around the Cullen's, and as I was lying in this room, listening to the activities of his siblings and parents, his presence was inevitable.

Maybe he was enjoying his distractions. Because of me, had he discovered women, and now taken to his own kind?

I scolded myself for thinking in that direction. I was just depressing myself.

_Of course, I'll always love you... in a way._

I Instead, I circled his words around in my head, much like basketball players psyching themselves before a big game, I was trying to build confidence in myself.

Suddenly, I remembered another snippet of the conversation of that night.

_But what happened the other night made me realize that it's time for a change. Because I'm...__tired__ of pretending to be something I'm not, Bella. I am not human. I've let this go on much too long, and I'm sorry for that._

Well... I was his kind now. But, he probably was tired of me. He probably wouldn't care if I was his species or human.

But I couldn't help but let other thoughts wonder into my head.

Would he love me now? Or just be disgusted by me? I was now around for eternity, provided no one ripped me to shreds. Was he sick of me?

I heard a few seconds the rush of air moving suddenly, and the door to my room burst open, with Alice rushing into the room and standing by my side in less than a second. I snapped my head up and looked at her with wide eyes, wondering what would evoke this reaction.

"Bella its Edward, he thinks you're dead!" Alice cried.

My eyes snapped wide open and I sat up. "What?" I asked, confused.

"He's going to the Volturi. He wants to die too." She said this like she was in a trance.

"How... what? What are you saying Alice? How does he know?" I stuttered.

"No time to explain now, Bella! We have to get to him before it's too late!" She grabbed my shoulder and pulled me out of the bed, running out of the door and grabbing my small bag of belongings – still packed – on the way.

"Alice, where are we going?" I asked, my voice quavering.

"We have to same him, Bella!" She cried again, looking at me like I was crazy.

"But.... what are we doing? What is he doing? What..."

Alice spun around at the top of the staircase and looked me in the eyes intensely, searching for something.

"Do you still love him?" She asked calmly.

My eyes widened at her question, my subconscious screaming _yes_ at me. Did I still love him? Even after everything he had done to me? Even if he doesn't love me back?

I nodded slowly after a couple of seconds.

"Then trust me," she said simply, and rand down the stairs, and threw the garage door open, leaving a stunned me at the top of the stairs.

"Bella!" She screamed.

I looked around me and ran a hand through my hair.

Edward needed saving... and Alice must have seen that I needed to be there for some reason.

_Never bet against Alice_, I remembered.

I needed to trust her, and I did, after all she had done for me. _She_ had never done anything wrong by me.

I made my decision and ran down the stairs, throwing myself in the Mercedes, which was already backing out of the garage.

A stunt driver would have looked on in amazement as Alice did a 360 degree turn while still reversing, and threw the car forward to rush out of the driveway in under a second.

"Here," she threw a small grey phone at me. I looked back up at her, her face fierce as she bent forward over the wheel. She looked like a woman on a mission.

"Call Esme's cell, tell her what I just told you about Edward. Tell her not to worry. We have this under control." She whispered the last sentence, as if she was reassuring herself more than telling me what to say.

I pressed the talk button when I reached Esme's contact in the phone.

"Alice," Esme said calmly as a greeting.

"Esme, it's Bella," I turned to Alice. "Something's wrong. Uh... Edward thinks I'm dead, and he's going to the Volturi."

I heard a sharp gasp from the other end of the line, but I interrupted before she could say anything else, "Alice and I are going... somewhere. We'll stop him. It's fine Esme, no need to worry." I bit my lip and Alice nodded in encouragement, and she added, "You can tell the other's when you get back to the house, but make sure that there are no rash decisions made. I can _see_ how it will end up if someone suddenly decides to chase after us."

Esme agreed she would, and wished us both a wary good luck, before asking – again – whether she could help at all.

"No, mum. I love you." Alice replied, sending Esme into tears. Alice promised her we would both be fine again, and motioned for me to hang up. I bid a quick goodbye and did so.

"Ugh. I hate lying to her." Alice frowned as she looked back at the road, which was a blur beneath us.

"What?" I asked, shocked. I had believed everything Alice had said, and was relieved that we were apparently going to make it out of this unscathed.

"I can't see much, Bella." Alice tightened her knuckles on the steering wheel. I could hear the agitation in her voice. "There are flickers, Edwards's plans. He's deciding what he wants to do when his flight arrives in Rome–"

"Where is he now?"

"He was in Arizona when he," she gulped, "saw the news. Then he took off toward Los Angeles, and he's taking a direct flight from there to Rome, where he will go to the Volturi. He doesn't know how to do this though, and he's trying to make up his mind. I'm getting flickers of him watching those around him in a plane, so I am assuming he is on the flight, I just don't know how far the flight has come."

It had been a couple of minutes, travelling at over twice the legal speed limit, when Alice brought both her hands up to her head, worrying me, as she had no hands on the steering wheel now. She muttered "no, no, it's not going to work, not fast enough" which was worrying me. I grabbed a hold of the steering wheel.

"What is it, Alice?" I asked when she shook her head around a few times. She looked back up, determined, and grabbed the steering wheel, swinging the car to the edge of the desolated road. The car screeched to a stop, and Alice jumped out, in her haste not even closing the door.

"Let's run, Bella. Please, please tell me you've run fast before." She begged of me.

"What about the car?" I asked as I got out.

"Who cares Bella! This is Edward we're talking about!" She screeched, her hands waving above her head.

"Right. Okay." I stumbled around the passenger door and motioned for Alice to start running in the right direction. I took off after her and quickly caught up, running by her side.

"Alice?" I asked hesitantly. She didn't say anything, so I took it as a sign to carry on with my question.

"How did Ed... Edward find out. You know, that I was... dead?"

She sighed and answered. "He was in Phoenix, he has been chasing Victoria around, thinking she was a danger to you," this shocked me, and I filed it away for later examination as I had to listen to every word of what Alice was saying, "and that she needed to be... terminated. He was following a trail, which led him into Phoenix, to a grungy, abandoned hostel somewhere downtown. There was a newspaper that had her scent all over it, and he started reading it. I don't know why... he must have had a reason. But he was scanning it, when he saw your name."

My brow furrowed in confusion. "Why would I be in a newspaper?"

Alice looked at me briefly, compassionate.

"Your name was listed in the death's section, Bella."

Of course.

"Oh." Was all I could manage to say. I could feel the familiar heavy feeling in my eyes and chest making itself present, the tell-tale signs of tearless crying.

Renee must have listed my death in the newspaper in Phoenix. I couldn't bear to think what her reaction was to her only daughter dying before her. I had disappeared, and my body will never be found. She'll never have closure. I'll never get to see her, ever again.

"I'm sorry, Bella," Alice tried to comfort me.

I sniffed, but didn't say anything, and neither did Alice.

I smelled the salty, sea air minutes before I spotted glinting water stretching out in front of me, the moon projecting a perfect reflection of itself on the calmness.

We raced through the last of the trees, and Alice stopped at the shore line, looking around to make sure no one was around.

"Please, please, Bella, do not get freaked out. Its only water and you can swim really fast. Just follow me, okay?"

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**Did you guys expect any of that to happen? Leave your thoughts and try and predict what will happen next!**

**I'm hoping that I will get the next chapter out soon, because this one was quite short, and I have some good ideas for what will a happen next. **

**I'm recommending **_**The Tales of a Charming TruckNapper **_**by**_** Mk Marie.**_** Not only does it have an amazing title, but it has an amazing author and story too :) Edward makes one memorable first impression! "Stop listening to my music, get off my cell phone, and bring back my truck!" I seethed. "Now!" Are first impressions really the most important? Let's hope not. It's hilarious and romantic. It's awesome!**


	8. Wakes & Wishes

**Once again, I have to apologise for the long wait between updates! Last chapter I said I wouldn't leave you guys for a month – guess what happens! Blame my newly bought and thoroughly watched New Moon DVD for the wait.**

**Anyway, here is your next chapter. See you soon :)**

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_**Previously: **_

_I smelled the salty, sea air minutes before I spotted glinting water stretching out in front of me, the moon projecting a perfect reflection of itself on the calmness._

_We raced through the last of the trees, and Alice stopped at the shore line, looking around to make sure no one was around. _

"_Please, please, Bella, do not get freaked out. Its only water and you can swim really fast. Just follow me, okay?"_

**Bella's POV**

"Please hurry up, we don't have much time!" Alice shouted.

"Alice..." I panicked, apprehensive of what I was about to do.

"It'll be fine, okay? Just get in the water and swim like you normally would. It's fast." She promised. I looked over at Alice quickly, and her face was begging me to trust her again.

"Err... okay," I murmured, watching Alice take off into the water at lightning speed. A few seconds later, her head popped up, drifting among the waves about a hundred metres out from the shore.

I stepped forward into the water, till I got knee deep. The cold of the water should have affected me – it was winter in this part of the world – but it didn't bother me like it should've. My shoes started sinking down in the soft sand, and I immediately took them off and chucked them into the ocean stretching before me. I heard a soft plop couple of seconds later, signalling they had hit the water.

I sighed and looked at the clothes I was wearing, cursing myself for deciding to wear full length jeans today. There was nothing worse I could have picked to wear when swimming.

I walked deeper into the water, but when I reached chest height, I suddenly stopped when I felt the water by my feet swish, like something had swum around it. I told myself to stop imagining things, and kept going deeper into the water, but seconds later, the sensation started again.

"Alice!" My voice trembled with fear.

"What?" She called back, appearing suddenly by my side.

"There's no sharks or anything here, is there?"

Alice rolled her eyes and gave me an incredulous expression, forgetting about the rush she was in for the moment.

"Sharks, Bella, really?" She snorted.

"Well..." I drawled.

"You're a vampire, Bella. A shark is way more afraid of us then we are of them. They disappear as soon as we come near. Intelligent creatures." She added.

"I thought that was dolphins," I mumbled, more to myself.

I took a deep breath and dove into the water, not waiting for Alice's witty response, and not waiting around for any impending shark attacks either.

I found gliding through the water easy, and shot through the water, leaving white wash and bubbles behind me, just like jet aeroplanes in the sky.

Alice quickly caught up to me, and gave me thumbs up. I smiled back at her, and let her lead the way. I didn't know at all how Alice knew what direction she was heading. I saw the white light shining from above me, the dark gloom of the blackness below me, and everywhere in between was shades of blue. I didn't know which way was north at all. We could have been heading to Antarctica for all I knew.

There wasn't any way I could predict how much time had passed when Alice pulled my arm up to the surface of the water. I was momentarily amazed how I hadn't run out of energy or had to breathe for so long.

I breathed in the first oxygen I could, and I felt relieved to be able to smell my surroundings again. It was like when Ed–

I cut my thoughts right there are tried to concentrate on Alice.

"Were off the coast of the Azores Islands, São Miguel, to be exact," she told me, and I could indeed see the twinkling lights of houses behind her, and the orange and pink colours of dawn peeking through at the horizon.

"How far are we?"

"Just a bit over half way."

"How long did we take to swim from America to here?"

"About 4 hours," she answered. She then looked around us, and satisfied that there were no humans to see us, she carried on talking.

"I can't see much more than before," she whispered, and I immediately knew what she was referring to. "I _think_ he's still on the plane. I hate not knowing!" She shook her head, as if to shake the thoughts away.

"So... he doesn't know what he will do when he gets to Italy?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"He's thinking... only flickers..." Alice muttered, and then she looked back to me.

"We have to get going again. In about an hour or so we will reach the Strait of Gibraltar, and it's a very narrow gap. I have no idea which way the tide is going or if there are any ships going in or out, and it's also daylight, so we have to be very careful, okay? I'll tell you when we get close." She patted my arm and dove again.

True to her word, not too long after we paused at the Azores Islands, she stopped me and we swum up to break the water again. Thanks to the clear blue skies, I saw a red and white cruiser about 7 miles away making its way between the two land masses.

"That's the boat that ferries passengers between Tarifa in Spain and Tanger in Morrocco." She said. It was making its way to the right; surprisingly fast for such a big boat.

"Just follow me closely from now on, okay?" Alice asked of me.

I nodded and we disappeared under the water again, this time swimming slower than we had before. I felt the stream of warm water when we passed the trail the boat had left.

From there on, the journey comprised of skirting around the edges of islands and avoiding the early morning fishing boats that were out to get the days catch.

We slowed down when we skirted around the northern edge of Corsica – so Alice told me – and in between two smaller islands before we made land on a deserted beach. Alice was paranoid as she looked around for any humans before we got our soaked selves out of the water.

"All I can say is that I'm thankful that Volterra is only twenty or so miles from the shore." Alice muttered, nervous. I could see what was ahead, rolling landscapes and small towns dotted along the roads. No large forests for cover, only open spaces.

"So he's decided to go there after all?" I asked Alice quietly, suddenly reminded again of why we had swum half the way around the world. I had been a bit pre-occupied with the culture shock of being in a different country for the first time in my life.

"Yes," Alice whispered, pulling me into the shade of some nearby trees before she carried on talking. "He landed at Rome airport not long ago; he's running up to Volterra." The hairs on my neck stood up as I realised Edward could not be far away from us now.

Alice sensed my reaction. "Judging by the landscape, I'm guessing he is in the upper reaches of Lazio at the moment."

"Where?" I asked, confused.

"About 80 miles south of here, I'm guessing," Alice replied, no hesitation in her outcome. I was shocked that after this much separation, I was so close to Edward, but under such grave circumstances.

I was too shocked to talk, but I found my voice after a couple of seconds and asked Alice the million dollar question.

"What do we do?"

Alice thought for a moment.

"I guess we head to Volterra and hope we get there before him. If we do I _guess_," she grabbed her short hair in annoyance,"we can run towards the direction he is coming from. We'll have to be very careful."

I'm sure that the Tuscan country-side was beautiful in every sense of the word, but I couldn't concentrate on my surroundings. My mind was circling around Edward and what his reaction would be when he saw me. What my reaction would be when I saw him. What he would look like. Would he be grateful that his sister and I turned up? But most of all; what would his reaction be to my appearance?

The walls of Volterra started about a third up a hill in the landscape, and it contained an orange and white stone city that somehow managed to squeeze in there. The attention to detail was staggering, statues of gods and the famous alike adorned the walls and streets I could see from this far away.

We ran adjacent to the road leading into the city, an unnecessary line of trees separating us. No human would have been able to see us at these speeds.

We both managed to stay in the shade as we made our way through a passage in the walls and onto the streets. Farmers, businessmen, bakers, grocers and locals selling off their produce all lined the paths, eager for their stalls to receive attention. We made our way through them relatively unnoticed, walking at human speed, which seemed to annoy Alice to no end.

I followed her into an alleyway that had steps leading up to what seemed to be an even busier street, and I saw glimpses of people dawdling at the top of the stairs.

Alice gasped and her eyes went blank. Seconds later, the skin on my arms prickled, almost like it was willing to have goose bumps. I was suddenly aware of a presence behind me.

"Bella!"

My breath gushed out of me when I saw the man frozen there.

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**Well, well, well. I can't wait to find out what happens next! Lol. I know this was a short chapter, but the next chapter will be up soon (I hope!). I just had to stop it here *evil grin*. Let this chapter quench your thirst a little, just think of it as an intermission. I loved the research I had to do for this chapter. I hope you liked it :D**

**I'm recommending **_**The Misapprehension of Bella Swan**_**by**_** hunterhunting.**_** The full title of the story is: The Misapprehension of Bella Swan Regarding the Inferior Intellect of Hockey Players. Through incessant stalking and persistence, can Edward wear down Bella's resistance and teach her to embrace her inner puck bunny? A ridiculous love story. It's very cute and funny in places, and Iove the personalities of Edward and Bella used in this.**


	9. Fright & Freedom

**Some phrases in here uttered by the Volturi are direct quotes from the book and/or the movie. Please don't sue me. **

**Translations at the bottom of the page.**

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_**Previously: **_

"_Bella!"_

_My breath gushed out of me when I saw the man frozen there._

**Bella's POV**

Red eyes.

That was the first thing that scared me about the vampire standing in front of me. This vampire was like the ones _he_ had once described to me. Cold, in every sense of the word.

And it was blatantly obvious this was not the vampire I had come searching half the world over for.

"Ciao Alice, sono lieto di incontrarmi con voi. Aro mi ha detto molto sulla tua famiglia." He cocked his head to the side, and smiled vindictively. "Vuoi venire dentro? Unisciti a noi per il pranzo?"*

My eyes were wide with fear as I looked at Alice, the nonchalant attitude of this vampire bringing a chill to my body. Alice was looking right at him, staring him down as she answered back in English. Her confidence settled me for a couple of seconds.

"No thank you, Demetri. We were just passing through the area. Come on, Bella." She reached for my hand and pulled away from the city walls, and the rogue vampire in front of us.

"Non così in fretta, bello. Non lasciare che gli altri solo passare attraverso la nostra città a loro piacimento. Insisto vieni con me."* His red eyes seemed to turn blacker as he uttered the last sentence, and his head bowed down ever so slightly.

Alice swallowed unnecessarily and stood up as straight as she could, making herself minimally taller against the bulging arms of the vampire in front of us.

"I said thank you, Demetri. There is no need for unpleasantries." I suddenly wished I could understand what he was saying.

He clasped his hands together. "Dai! Non lasciare che un opportunità passare. Aro mi ucciderebbe se sapesse che era venuto da Volterra. Vieni!"* He laughed and turned around. Alice looked me in the eyes with a blank expression before following.

"Alice!" I whispered so that even the vampire just feet in front of us wouldn't hear. "Are you _insane!_? Let's go!"

She shook her head _no_ at me and continued walking straight. I followed at her side, puzzled as to why she was following this Demetri blindly. Weren't we supposed to be finding Edward?

We were led up the rest of the path and we skirted around the outside of the main square, which was buzzing with people – tourists and locals, all mingling in the early morning, and entered another pathway on the other side of the square. It was dark and gloomy here – grungy stone walls, shadows – a typical vampire residence. This is what I had been expecting the first time I visited the Cullen's place, with _him_.

Alice grabbed and squeezed my hand all of a sudden, and I looked up to see her motioning with her eyes between me and a small arch to the right. I looked in front and saw Demetri was making his way confidently towards the end of the path – a dead end from all I could see.

Alice counted down silently, and I could see the "three, two, one" her mouth formed. We ran down the arch as soon as we were near it and disappeared silently, Demetri not making any noise of recognition for a couple of seconds, giving us plenty of time as we rushed down the narrow backstreets of the city.

Alice lurched to a stop after half a minute of running and I looked up to see her staring in front of us with wide eyes. I followed the direction her gaze.

Standing in front of us was yet another red-eyed vampire, this one a female. She was short, had blond hair, and was dressed in intricate black laced clothes, that had I been in a fashion show and not here, I would have liked.

The vampire in front of us smiled. "Nice to meet you, Alice Cullen." She said, turning her gaze to me. She cocked her head to the side ever so slightly and looked at me with a confused expression on her face.

"Nice too meet you also," she said.

She turned and walked away from us, my brow crinkling in confusion. Alice sighed and walked behind the vampire, following her to wherever she was being led. She looked at me sympathetically and tilted her head towards the vampire, indicating I should come too.

We ended up in the same place we were before – the square busy with people wandering around – but this time we were lead through large wooden doors below the clock tower into a white-washed hallway. The look on Alice's face told me what I needed to know – don't do anything; keep quiet, keep still, do what they say. It scared me.

We were lead through a series of darker corridors, each second the surroundings looking more like a medieval dungeon. One last pair of wooden doors – and we were lead into a brightly lit waiting area.

With confusion evident on my face, I was motioned into an elevator. Comically, light elevator music was playing, but it did nothing to squash the dread coursing through me.

The doors dinged open, and we walked single file through yet another dark hallway. Jane approached marble doors and easily tugged them open, presenting a magnificent oval marble room, with an intricate dome as a ceiling.

"They send you out for one and you come back with two," a young and small dark haired man said from the corner of the room. Jane marched to stand to the side of him. My attention now wandered to the other presences in the room – the three Volturi sat in their thrones – just as the painting in Carlisle's study had depicted them. Around the rest of the room were six guards – including Demetri – plus Jane and the dark-haired man in the corner.

"Ah, welcome my friends!" The vampire in the middle throne stood up and threw his arms out, as if to embrace us warmly. He had long brown hair, half of it flatly pulled up behind his head. I estimated him to be in the middle thirties when he was changed.

"Alice Cullen... and who do we have here?"

"Bella is her name," the dark-haired vampire uttered from the corner of the room.

"Thank you Alec. _Bella_," he turned to me and examined my face, as if he was putting the information away for later. I waited for the inevitable blush to come, but realised how stupid I was being a second after.

"So pleased to meet you. I am Aro, and this is Caius and Marcus," he said, motioning with his head behind him respectively, but not taking his hungry eyes off me.

He turned to Alice after what seemed like an eternity of staring at me.

"What brings you to Volterra?"

"We were just passing by coincidentally, heading towards Venice for a holiday. We don't mean to interrupt." Alice said so convincingly that I almost believed her.

"You see, Mary-Alice," Alice's eyes widened slightly at the realisation he knew her name, "my talent allows me to read _every_ thought a person has ever had by a simple touch of his skin." He paused dramatically. I thought this seemed more like a simple act to him then a meeting between two people.

"If you would be so politely inclined, Alice," he held out his hand and waited expectantly for Alice to meet his demand.

"Very well," he answered stoically when she stayed still.

He walked towards me.

"May I?" He asked politely, although I knew everything in this room was a facade. I decided I had no choice either way and slowly lifted my hand up to meet his.

He grabbed onto my hand and stood still, his eyes closing in concentration. I wondered what thoughts of mine he was seeing.

"I think–"

Aro stopped halfway through his sentence and focused his eyes behind me, his mouth opening slightly before a smirk slowly came across his lips. I could hear footsteps in the corridors – I had no idea who's they were to get such a reaction from Aro.

"Edward!" Alice suddenly gasped, one hand going to her stomach and another to her head. Her knees buckled and she dropped to the ground. She looked like wanted to vomit.

"This is about to become very interesting," Aro said cryptically, dropping his hold on my hand.

The doors creaked open, and then someone entered the room. I couldn't believe my eyes. His clothes were ripped, dirty. They looked like they had been worn for months. His face looked even paler than usual, dark purple shadows surrounded his eyes and lines his cheekbones. He looked frail – unloved.

I saved his eyes for last, and the second I saw the golden depths of them, they looked my way. His body froze as he looked at me. The first thing that moved was his hands, which were slowly clenching into fists. His jaw tightened, and his posture became rigid. Then he started shaking.

"Edward?" I called out; surprised that it didn't hurt anymore to say the name. I started walking towards him, like I was in a trance.

"No!" His first protest sounded weak, but as I drew nearer, he started yelling louder.

'No! No, no, no, no. This can't happen. No!"

His face crumpled in pain and he turned to Alice, staring at her for a couple of seconds before turning to look at me, his face bathed in a chaos of horror, pain, confusion, anger, terror, disgust, anguish, dread, uncertainty, disorientation...

It nearly killed me again to see him like this, which is why I reached a hand out to him. When he didn't move, I moved forward to make contact with his skin. The second we touched, a spark shot up my arm. His skin felt warm, like we were equals. I stared up into his familiar eyes, drowning in them just like he had never left me.

"Oh well, we're all together now! Isn't it lovely!" Aro's voice pierced through the quiet room. Edward withdrew his hand quickly and looked around the room, seeming to notice our surroundings.

"How nice to meet you, my friend!" He moved towards Edward quickly and took his hand, processing his life's thoughts in a mere second. Edward sharply ripped his hand out of Aro's, his eyes widening on what had just occurred.

"Why do you come to us on this beautiful day, Edward?"

"Let her go." Edward seethed through his gritted teeth.

"Ah, how I miss my friend Carlisle! You remind me of him – only he was not so angry." Aro was content, looking at Edward's angry expression.

Edward looked at Alice, and they had one of their quick silent discussions, which Aro seemed to notice. Alice crooked an eyebrow slightly at Edward, and in result his shoulders slumped.

"It seems we have a dilemma here, my friend." Aro said sympathetically, which meant that he was anything but. I was quickly understanding why Edward had said he didn't like these vampires all that time ago, when he was first telling me of the Volturi.

"And what would that be?" Edward fumed, smiling tightly. I could'nt take my eyes off him. He was beautiful, even like this.

"He speaks!" Aro enthused. He paused and after a minute spoke again. "It is against the law to tell a human of our existence, Edward." He stated simply. Edward looked emotionlessly at Aro, as though he had given up everything, but I knew he was a good actor, so I hoped he was playing along with Aro.

"You have violated a law of the Volturi. Do you understand what you have gotten yourself into?" Edward still didn't move, and Aro's manner became more frustrated.

"Do you understand what happens when you violate a law, Edward?" Aro enquired.

Aro moved towards Edward, his hands and eyes drawn to Edward's neck. He was inches away when I realised what he was about to do.

"No! No! Kill me! Please kill me. Not him." I had to do anything to save Edward. It didn't matter if I died – heck! I was already dead in the sense of it. As long as Edward would live, it would all be fine. He wouldn't be killed because of the mistake he made with me.

Aro looked over at me with interest, and cocked his head to the side. I thought he muttered something along the lines of "a shame", and he began to move towards me. My eyes widened and my heart rate would have gone through the roof had I still been human. I closed my eyes a second time, and the memory of this happening before to me came back to mind – when Laurent decided to pay a visit. A growl sounded in the room, followed by a swishing of fabric. I opened my mouth to voice out loud what my last thoughts had been before Laurent had bit me.

"Wait!" Alice shouted, interrupting me. My eyes sprang open, and I flinched at seeing Aro's face so close to mine, his hand nearly at my neck in a claw.

He looked frustratingly at Alice and raised his eyebrows, pulling back from me. She moved forward and took off her glove, offering her bare hand up to Aro, which he took greedily.

It seemed to take forever before he said anything. "Hmm... very interesting," he enunciated, staring Alice straight in the eyes. "To see what you have seen, even though it has not happened yet..."

"It seems we have a debate on our hands, friends." He turned to Caius and Marcus, walking to about halfway in between Alice and the vampires still seated on the throne.

"Do we let our young friends go, even though they have broken our sacred law, or do we punish them for what they have done?" His voice echoed through the quite room. I turned worriedly to Edward, who was staring at me in pain. I couldn't help but feel confused once again.

"What did you see, Aro?" Marcus croaked. I turned to look at him. It was the first time he had spoken, and his voice was croakier than I had expected for someone his age – he looked to be frozen in his early twenties. I briefly wondered how old these vampires really were.

"Edward here had planned on transforming Bella, but wisely decided an existence away from her would be in each party's best interest. It seems that an American Nomad by the name of Laurent hunted Bella down and transformed her, leaving his mess for others to clean up." Aro tutted, and I did my best not to be offended by his referring to me as "his mess".

"We have done nothing wrong by the law, Aro." Alice spoke.

"Indeed, you have tied up all the loose ends," Aro spoke half-minded.

"Where is this Laurent? I must thank him for his part." Aro said, smiling straight at me. I resisted the urge to spit out a few curses in his face.

"I don't know, Aro," I answered before anyone else saved me by the skin again.

"Oh?" His expression asked for more information. In a way he was like a gossiping teenager, always wanting more information.

"I was burning for three days," I resisted the urge to add on "don't you know that".

"But why would he leave you... Oh!" His face brightened. I glanced over at Alice to see she was also staring anxiously at the vampire. "That clears it all up!" He smiled. I could feel the dread on my face as to what conclusion he had thought up.

"I look forward to having you in the family, _Bella_," he said, looking at me with delight. Snarls started up in the corner, and Demetri grabbed Edward by the neck before anything could happen.

"Edward?" I shouted worriedly.

I felt cold fingers pulling my chin to face back to Aro, and I flinched away from him.

"We will take full responsibility for her." Alice's voice rang through the room, Edward's low snarls being the only other noise.

"That's what I like to hear," he said mysteriously, releasing me from his grasp. "I look forward to seeing what your shield will bring to your family. I hope to see you again, _Bella_."

He snapped his fingers next to his head, and if on cue Demetri released Edward from his grasp, pushing him forward. I'd never seen Edward stumble.

"Here, take this." Aro said, handing Edward a black cloak. "I look forward to hearing from Carlisle soon." He warned.

Alice rushed toward Edward and hugged him quickly, leaving one arm around him as they walked to the doors, her hand grabbing mine and pulling a frozen me along with them.

"Goodbye, my friends." Aro near sang, as we practically ran out of the room.

_What was all that about?_

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**There's one more chapter left now (I think), and I hope you guys agree with where I finish. Please review and tell me what you liked and didn't like – I love hearing your thoughts!**

**Translations:**

*** "Ciao Alice, sono lieto di incontrarmi con voi. Aro mi ha detto molto sulla tua famiglia. Vuoi venire dentro? Unisciti a noi per il pranzo?" -** Hello Alice, I am pleased to meet you. Aro told me much about your family. Want to come inside? Join us for lunch?

*** "Non così in fretta, bello. Non lasciare che gli altri solo passare attraverso la nostra città a loro piacimento. Insisto vieni con me." - **Not so fast, beautiful. We do not let others just pass through our city as they please. I insist you come with me.

*** "Dai! Non lasciare che un opportunità passare. Aro mi ucciderebbe se sapesse che era venuto da Volterra. Vieni!" - **Come on! I will not let an opportunity pass by. Aro would kill me if he knew you had come by Volterra. Come!

**I'm recommending **_**A Mzungu Oasis **_**by **_**lisa89.**_** Edward hasn't seen Bella in four long years, until they're seated next to each other on ****a**** flight with nowhere to run. The story of how two young adults volunteering in Kenya fell in love and fell apart. I learned some awesome things about Africa along the way of this great story :)**


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